The Buddhist Teaching on Physical Phenomena

The Buddhist Teachingon

Physical Phenomena

Nina van Gorkom

2008

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First edition published in 2008 byZolag32 Woodnook RoadStreathamLondonSW16 6TZwww.zolag.co.uk

ISBN 978-1-897633-24-3Copyright Nina van GorkomAll rights reservedBritish Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA CIP record for this book is available from the British LibraryPrinted in the UK and USA by Lightningsource.

Contents

Preface iii

Introduction ix

1 The Four Great Elements 1

2 The Eight Inseparables 13

3 The Sense-Organs 21

4 Sense Objects 31

5 Subtle Rupas and Kamma 39

6 Intimation 47

7 Rupas from different Factors 55

8 Characteristics of all Rupas 61

9 Groups of Rupas 71

10 Conclusion 77

Glossary 81

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ii CONTENTS

Preface

That which is made of iron, wood or hemp is not astrong bond, say the wise; (but) that longing for jewels,ornaments, children and wives is far greater anattachment.

Dhammapada (vs. 345).

Attachment to people and possessions is strong, almost irresist-ible. We are infatuated by what we see, hear, smell, taste, experiencethrough the bodysense and through the mind. However, all the dif-ferent things we experience do not last. We lose people who are dearto us and we lose our possessions. We can find out that attachmentleads to sorrow, but at the moments of attachment we do not want toaccept the truth of the impermanence of all things. We want pleasantobjects for ourselves, and we consider the “self” the most importantthing in the world.

Through the Buddhist teachings we learn that what we take for“self”, for “our mind” and for “our body”, consists of changing phe-nomena. That part of the Buddhist teachings which is the “Abhi-dhamma” enumerates and classifies all phenomena of our life: men-tal phenomena or nama and physical phenomena or rupa. Seeing isnama, it experiences visible object through the eye-door. Visible ob-ject or colour is rupa, it does not experience anything. The eyesense,that functions as the eye-door through which visible object is experi-enced, is also rupa. The rupas that are sense objects, namely, visibleobject, sound, smell, flavour and tangible object, and also the rupas

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iv PREFACE

that are the sense organs of eyes, ears, nose, tongue and bodysense,are conditions for the namas to experience objects. Nama and rupaare interrelated.

Nama and rupa are ultimate realities. We should know the dif-ference between ultimate truth and conventional truth. Conventionaltruth is the world of concepts such as person, tree or animal. Beforewe learnt about Buddhism, conventional truth, the world of con-cepts, was the only truth we knew. It is useful to examine the mean-ing of concept, in Pali: paññatti. The word concept can stand for thename or term that conveys an idea and it can also stand for the ideaitself conveyed by a term. Thus, the name “tree” is a concept, andalso the idea we form up of “tree” is a concept. When we touch whatwe call a tree, hardness, which is a kind of rupa can be experienced.Through the eyes only the rupa that is visible object or colour can beexperienced. Visible object and hardness are ultimate realities, para-mattha dhammas, each with their own characteristic. These charac-teristics do not change, they can be experienced without having toname them. Colour is always colour, hardness is always hardness,even when we give them another name.

The whole day we touch things such as a fork, a plate or a chair.We believe that we know instantaneously what different things are,but after the sense-impressions such as seeing or the experiencingof tactile object through the bodysense, there are complicated pro-cesses of remembrance of former experiences and of classification,and these moments succeed one another very rapidly. Concepts areconceived through remembrance. We remember the form and shapeof things, we know what different things are and what they are usedfor. We could not lead our daily life without conventional truth;we do not have to avoid the world of conventional truth. However,in between the moments of thinking of concepts, understanding ofultimate realities, of nama and rupa, can be developed. The devel-opment of understanding does not prevent us from doing all thechores of daily life, from talking to other people, from helping themor from being generous to them. We could not perform deeds ofgenerosity if we would not think of conventional truth, such as thethings we are giving or the person to whom we give. But through the

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development of understanding we shall learn to distinguish betweenabsolute truth and conventional truth.

The “Abhidhammattha Sangaha”, a compendium of the Abhid-hamma composed in India at a later time1, states that concepts areonly shadows of realities. When we watch T.V., we see projectedimages of people and we know that through the eyesense only vis-ible object is seen, no people. Also when we look at the personswe meet, only colour is experienced through the eyesense. In theultimate sense there are no people. Although they seem very real,they are only shadows of what is really there. The truth is differentfrom what we always assumed. What we take for a person are onlynamas and rupas that arise and fall away. So long as we have notrealized the arising and falling away of nama and rupa we continueto believe in a lasting self.

Ultimate realities are impermanent, they arise and fall away. Con-cepts are objects of thinking, they are not real in the ultimate sense.Nama and rupa, not concepts, are the objects of understanding. Thepurpose of the development of the eightfold Path is seeing ultimaterealities as impermanent, suffering and non-self. If the differencebetween concepts and ultimate realities is not known, the eightfoldPath cannot be developed. Right understanding, the leading fac-tor of the eightfold Path, is developed through direct awareness ofnama and rupa. However, this is difficult and it can only be learntvery gradually. When direct awareness arises of one object at a timeas it appears through one of the senses or through the mind-door, wedo not think of a concept of a “whole”, of a person or thing, at thatmoment. The study of rupas can help us to have more understand-ing of the sense objects and of the doorways of the senses throughwhich these objects are experienced. If we do not have a founda-tion knowledge of objects and doorways we cannot know how to be

1This work has been ascribed to Anuruddha. It has been translated and publishedinto English by the P.T.S. under the title of “Compendium of Philosophy”, and byVen. Narada, Colombo, under the title of “A Manual of the Abhidhamma”. It hasalso been translated by the Venerable Bikkhu Bodhi as “A Comprehensive Manualof Abhidhamma”. Moreover, it has been translated together with its commentary as“Summary of the Topics of Abhidhamma” and “Exposition of the Topics of Abhid-hamma”, by R.P. Wijeratne and Rupert Gethin.

vi PREFACE

aware of one reality at a time as it appears at the present moment.The study of nama and rupa can be a condition for the arising ofdirect awareness later on.

The study of rupas is not the study of physics or medical science.The aim of the understanding of nama and rupa is the eradicationof the wrong view of self and freedom from enslavement to defile-ments. So long as one clings to an idea of self who owns things, itcan give rise to avarice and jealousy which may even motivate baddeeds such as stealing or killing. Defilements cannot be eradicatedimmediately, but when we begin to understand that our life is onlyone moment of experiencing an object through one of the six door-ways, the clinging to the idea of an abiding ego, of a person or selfwill decrease.

All three parts of the Buddha’s teachings, namely the Vinaya(Book of Discipline for the monks), the Suttanta (Discourses) andthe Abhidhamma point to the same goal: the eradication of defile-ments. From my quotations of sutta texts the reader can see thatthere is also Abhidhamma in the suttas, thus, that the teachings areone, the teaching of the Buddha. I have added questions at the endof each chapter in order to encourage the reader to check his under-standing. I have used Pali terms next to the English equivalents inorder to help the reader to know the precise meaning of the realitiesexplained in the Abhidhamma. The English terms have a specificmeaning in the context of conventional use and they do not ren-der the precise meaning of the reality represented by the Pali term.The texts from which I have quoted, including the scriptures andthe commentaries, have been translated into English by the Pali TextSociety.

The first of the seven books of the Abhidhamma, the “Dhamma-sangan. i”, translated as “Buddhist Psychological Ethics”2, is a com-pilation of all nama and rupa, of all that is real. The source for mybook on physical phenomena is that part of the “Dhammasangan. i”which deals with this subject, as well as the commentary to thisbook, the “Atthasalinı”, translated as “Expositor”3, written by the

2Pali Text Society, reprint 1993.3Pali Text Society, 1976.

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venerable Buddhaghosa. I also used the “Visuddhimagga”, trans-lated as “The Path of Purification”, an encyclopedia by the venerableBuddhaghosa4.

I wish to express my deepest gratefulness to Ms Sujin Boriharn-wanaket who always inspired me to verify the teachings in dailylife. She reminded me never to forget the goal of the teachings: thedevelopment of understanding of all that appears through the sense-doors and the mind-door so that clinging to an idea of self and alldefilements can be eradicated.

May this book on rupas help the reader to develop right under-standing of nama and rupa!

4I used the translation of Ven. Nyan. amoli , 1964, Colombo, Sri Lanka. There isanother translation by Pe Maung Tin under the title of “The Path of Purity”, P.T.S.

viii PREFACE

Introduction

The Abhidhamma teaches us that in the ultimate sense our life isnama and rupa that arise because of their appropriate conditions andthen fall away. What we take for person or self is citta5 or conscious-ness, cetasika6 or mental factors arising with the citta, and rupa orphysical phenomena. Citta and cetasika are nama, they experienceobjects, whereas rupa does not know anything. Citta experiencessense objects through the five senses. The sense objects as well asthe sense organs are rupas. The five senses by means of which cittasexperience an object are called doors. When we think of somethingwe saw or heard, citta does not experience an object through a sense-door but through another door: the mind-door. Thus there are sixdoorways. Through the mind-door citta can experience ultimate re-alities, nama and rupa, as well as concepts.

Citta experiences only one object and then it falls away to besucceeded by the next citta. We may have thought that there is oneconsciousness that lasts, that can see, hear and think, but this is notso. Only one citta arises at a time: at one moment a citta that seesarises, at another moment a citta that hears and at another momentagain a citta that thinks. In our life an unbroken series of cittas arisein succession.

Cittas can be good or wholesome, kusala cittas, they can be un-wholesome, akusala cittas, or they can be neither kusala nor akusala.Seeing, for example, is neither kusala nor akusala, it only experiences

5Pronounced as chitta.6Pronounced as chetasika.

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x INTRODUCTION

visible object through the eye-door. After seeing has fallen away, vis-ible object is experienced by kusala cittas or by akusala cittas. Thus,when an object impinges on one of the six doors different types ofcittas arise in a series or process and all of them experience that ob-ject. They arise in a specific order within the process and there is noself who can prevent their arising. The cittas that arise in a processexperience an object through one of the five sense-doors and throughthe mind-door.

Only one citta arises at a time, but each citta is accompanied byseveral cetasikas or mental factors that share the same object with thecitta but perform each their own function. Some cetasikas such asfeeling and remembrance or “perception” (sañña) accompany eachcitta, others do not. Unwholesome mental factors, akusala cetasikas,only accompany akusala cittas, whereas “beautiful” mental factors,sobhana cetasikas, accompany kusala cittas.

As regards physical phenomena or rupa, there are twentyeightkinds of rupa in all. Rupas are not merely textbook terms, they arerealities that can be directly experienced. Rupas do not know orexperience anything; they can be known by nama. Rupa arises andfalls away, but it does not fall away as quickly as nama. When acharacteristic of rupa such as hardness impinges on the bodysense itcan be experienced through the bodysense by several cittas arisingin succession within a process. But even though rupa lasts longerthan citta, it falls away again, it is impermanent.

Rupas do not arise singly, they arise in units or groups. Whatwe take for our body is composed of many groups or units, consist-ing each of different kinds of rupa, and the rupas in such a grouparise together and fall away together. The reader will come acrossfour conditioning factors that produce rupas of the body: kamma,citta, temperature and food. The last three factors are easier to un-derstand, but the first factor, kamma, is harder to understand sincekamma is a factor of the past. We can perform good and bad deedsthrough body, speech and mind and these can produce their appro-priate results later on. Such deeds are called kamma, but when weare more precise kamma is actually the cetasika volition or intention(cetana) that motivates the deed. Kamma is a mental activity which

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can be accumulated. Since cittas that arise and fall away succeed oneanother in an unbroken series, the force of kamma is carried on fromone moment of citta to the next moment of citta, from one life to thenext life. In this way kamma is capable to produce its result lateron. A good deed, kusala kamma, can produce a pleasant result, andan evil deed can produce an unpleasant result. Kamma producesresult at the first moment of life: it produces rebirth-consciousnessin a happy plane of existence such as the human plane or a heav-enly plane, or in an unhappy plane of existence such as a hell planeor the animal world. Throughout our life kamma produces seeing,hearing and the other sense-impressions that are vipakacittas, cittasthat are results. Vipakacittas are neither kusala cittas nor akusalacittas. Seeing a pleasant object is the result of kusala kamma andseeing an unpleasant object is the result of akusala kamma. Due tokamma gain and loss, praise and blame alternate in our life.

Rebirth-consciousness is the mental result of kamma, vipakacitta,but at that moment kamma also produces rupas and kamma keepson producing rupas throughout life; when it stops producing rupasour life-span has to end. Kamma produces particular kinds of rupassuch as the senses, as we shall see. Citta also produces rupas. Ourdifferent moods become evident by our facial expressions and then itis clear that citta produces rupas. Temperature, which is actually theelement of heat, also produces rupas. Throughout life the elementof heat produces rupas. Nutrition is another factor that producesrupas. When food has been taken by a living being it is assimilatedinto the body and then nutrition can produce rupas. Some of thegroups of rupas of our body are produced by kamma, some by citta,some by temperature and some by nutrition. The four factors whichproduce the rupas of our body support and consolidate each otherand keep this shortlived body going. If we see the intricate way inwhich different factors condition the rupas of our body we shall beless inclined to think that the body belongs to a self.

There are not only rupas of the body, there are also rupas whichare the material phenomena outside the body. What we take forrocks, plants or houses are rupas and these originate from tempera-ture. We may wonder whether there are no other factors apart from

xii INTRODUCTION

the element of heat that contribute to the growth of plants, such assoil, light and moisture. It is true that these factors are the right con-ditions that have to be present so that a plant can grow. But what wecall soil, light and moisture are, when we are more precise, differentcombinations of rupas, none of which can arise without the elementof heat or temperature that produces them. Rupas outside the bodyare only produced by temperature, not by kamma, citta or nutrition.

Rupas perform their functions, no matter one dresses oneself,eats, digests one’s food, moves about, gesiticulates, talks to others,in short, during all one’s activities. If we do not study rupas wemay not notice their characteristics that appear all the time in dailylife. We shall continue to be deluded by the outward appearance ofthings instead of knowing realities as they are. We should rememberthat the rupa which is the “earth- element” or solidity can appearas hardness or softness. Hardness impinges time and again on thebodysense, no matter what we are doing. When hardness appearsit can be known as only a kind of rupa, be it hardness of the bodyor hardness of an external object. In the ultimate sense it is only akind of rupa. The detailed study of nama and rupa will help us tosee that there isn’t anything that is “mine” or self. The goal of thestudy of the Abhidhamma is the development of wisdom leading tothe eradication of all defilements.

Chapter 1

The Four Great Elements

Rupas do not arise singly, they arise in units or groups. Each ofthese groups is composed of different kinds of rupa. There are fourkinds of rupa, the four “Great Elements” (Maha-bhuta rupas), whichhave to arise together with each and every group of rupas, no matterwhether these are rupas of the body or rupas outside the body. Thetypes of rupa other than the four Great Elements depend on thesefour rupas and cannot arise without them. They are the followingrupas:

the Element of Earth or solidity

the Element of Water or cohesion

the Element of Fire or heat

the Element of Wind (air) or motion

Earth, Water, Fire and Wind do not in this context have the samemeaning as in conventional language, neither do they represent con-ceptual ideas as we find them in different philosophical systems.In the Abhidhamma they represent ultimate realities, specific rupaseach with their own characteristic. The element of earth, in Pali:pat.havı dhatu, translated into English as “solidity” or “extension”,

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2 CHAPTER 1. THE FOUR GREAT ELEMENTS

has the characteristic of hardness or softness. It can be directly ex-perienced when we touch something hard or soft. We do not haveto name the rupa denoted by “element of earth” in order to experi-ence it. It is an element that arises and falls away; it has no abidingsubstance, it is devoid of a “self”. It may seem that hardness canlast for some time, but in reality it falls away immediately. Rupasare replaced so long as there are conditions for them to be producedby one of the four factors of kamma, citta, temperature or nutrition1.The hardness that is experienced now is already different from thehardness that arose a moment ago.

We used to think that a cushion or a chair could be experiencedthrough touch. When we are more precise, it is hardness or softnessthat can be experienced through touch. Because of remembrance offormer experiences we can think of a cushion or chair and we knowthat they are named “cushion” or “chair”. This example can remindus that there is a difference between ultimate realities and conceptswe can think of but which are not real in the ultimate sense.

Viewing the body and the things around us as different combi-nations of rupas may be new to us. Gradually we shall realize thatrupas are not abstract categories, but that they are realities appear-ing in daily life. I shall quote the definitions of the different rupasgiven by the “Visuddhimagga” and the “Atthasalinı”. These defini-tions mention the characteristic, function, manifestation and proxi-mate cause or immediate occasion2 of the rupas that are explained.The “Visuddhimagga” (XI,93)3 gives, for example, the following def-inition of the rupa that is the earth element or solidity:

“. . . The earth element has the characteristic of hardness.Its function is to act as a foundation. It is manifested asreceiving.. . . ”

Each reality has its own individual characteristic by which it canbe distinguished from other realities. The earth element or solid-ity has hardness (or softness) as characteristic, the fire element has

1See Introduction. This will be explained further on.2The Atthasalinı explains these terms in Book I, Part II, Analysis of Terms, 63.3See also Dhammasangan. i §648, and Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 332.

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heat as characteristic. Such characteristics can be experienced whenthey appear. As to function, rupas have functions in relation to otherrupas or in relation to nama. Solidity acts as a foundation, namelyfor the other rupas it arises together with in a group; that is its func-tion. Smell, for example, could not arise alone, it needs solidity asfoundation. It is the same with visible object or colour that can beexperienced through the eyesense. Visible object or colour needs so-lidity as foundation or support, it could not arise alone. Soliditythat arises together with visible object cannot be seen, only visibleobject can be seen. As regards manifestation, this is the way a realityhabitually appears. Solidity is manifested as receiving, it receivesthe other rupas it arises together with since it acts as their founda-tion. With regard to the proximate cause, according to the “Visud-dhimagga” (XIV,35) each of the four Great Elements has the otherthree as its proximate cause. The four Great Elements arise togetherand condition one another.

At first the definitions of realities may seem complicated butwhen we have studied them, we shall see that they are helpful forthe understanding of the different realities, and this includes un-derstanding of the way they act on other realities and the way theymanifest themselves. The study of realities is a foundation for thedevelopment of direct understanding, of seeing things as they reallyare.

In the “Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant’s Foot-print” (Middle Length Sayings I, no. 28) we read that Sariputtataught the monks about the four Great Elements. We read about theelement of earth or solidity, which is translated here as “extension”:

“ . . . And what, your reverences, is the element ofextension? The element of extension may be internal, itmay be external. And what, your reverences, is theinternal element of extension? Whatever is hard, solid, isinternal, referable to an individual and derivedtherefrom, that is to say: the hair of the head, the hair ofthe body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrowof the bones, kidney, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs,


intestines, mesentary, stomach, excrement, or whateverother thing is hard, solid, is internal. . . ”

If the body can be seen as only elements, the wrong view of selfcan be eradicated. Solidity can be internal or external, outside thebody. Solidity is also present in what we call a mountain or a rock,in all material phenomena. Sariputta reminded the monks of theimpermanence of the element of extension:

“There comes a time, your reverences, when the elementof extension that is external is agitated; at that time theexternal element of extension disappears. Theimpermanence of this ancient external element ofextension can be shown, your reverences, its liability todestruction can be shown, its liability to decay can beshown, its liability to change can be shown. So what ofthis shortlived body derived from craving? There is notanything here for saying, ‘I’, or ‘mine’ or ‘I am’. . . ”

The impermanence of the element of solidity may manifest itselfin such calamities of nature as an earthquake, but actually at eachand every moment rupas arise and then fall away, they do not last.

As regards the element of water (in Pali: apo dhatu) or cohesion,the “Visuddhimagga” (XI, 93) defines it as follows 4 :

“. . . The water element has the characteristic of trickling.Its function is to intensify. It is manifested as holdingtogether.”

The element of water or cohesion cannot be experienced throughthe bodysense, only through the mind-door. When we touch whatwe call water, it is only solidity, temperature or motion which canbe experienced through the bodysense, not cohesion. Cohesion hasto arise together with whatever kind of materiality arises. It makesthe other rupas it accompanies cohere so that they do not becomescattered. The “Atthasalinı“ (II, Book II, Ch III, 335) explains:

4See also Dhammasangan. i §652 and Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 332.

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“. . . For the element of cohesion binds together iron, etc.,in masses, makes them rigid. Because they are so bound,they are called rigid. Similarly in the case of stones,mountains, palm-seeds, elephant-tusks, ox-horns, etc.All such things the element of cohesion binds, andmakes rigid; they are rigid because of its binding.”

We read in the above quoted sutta that Sariputta explained to themonks about the internal liquid element (element of water):

“. . . Whatever is liquid, fluid, is internal, referable to anindividual or derived therefrom, that is to say: bile,phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, serum, saliva,mucus, synovial fluid, urine or whatever other thing isliquid, fluid, is internal . . . ”

When we shed tears or swallow saliva we can be reminded thatwhat we take for the fluid of “my body” are only elements devoid ofself. Sariputta reminded the monks that the external liquid elementcan become agitated and can bring destruction to villages, towns,districts and regions, or that the water of the oceans may go downand disappear. It is liable to change and it is impermanent. Both theinternal and the external liquid element are impermanent and notself.

As to the element of fire, heat or temperature (in Pali: tejo dhatu),the “Visuddhimagga” (XI, 93) gives the following definition of it5 :

“. . . The fire element has the characteristic of heat. Itsfunction is to mature (maintain). It is manifested as acontinued supply of softness6.”

The element of heat or temperature can be experienced throughthe bodysense and it appears as heat or cold. Cold is a lesser degree

5See also Dhammasangan. i §648 and Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 332.6The Atthasalinı (II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 332) states that it has “the gift of soft-

ening (co-existent realities) as manifestation”. It states: “When this body is accompa-nied by the life-controlling faculty, by the element of heat, by consciousness, then itbecomes lighter, softer, more wieldy.” In a corpse there is no body heat, it is stiff andnot wieldy.


of heat. The element of heat accompanies all kinds of materialitythat arises, rupas of the body and materiality outside. It maintainsor matures them. The element of heat is one of the four factors thatproduce rupas of the body. At the first moment of life, kamma, adeed committed in the past, produces the rebirth-consciousness andalso rupa. After the rebirth-consciousness has arisen temperaturealso starts to produce rupas of the body7. Rupas which are materi-ality outside such as those of a plant or a rock are produced solelyby temperature.

We read in the above quoted sutta that Sariputta explained to themonks about the internal element of heat:

“. . . Whatever is heat, warmth, is internal, referable to anindividual and derived therefrom, such as by whateverone is vitalized, by whatever one is consumed, bywhatever one is burnt up, and by whatever one hasmunched, drunk, eaten and tasted that is properlytransmuted (in digestion), or whatever other thing isheat, warmth, is internal. . . ”

The “Visuddhimagga” (XI, 36) which gives an explanation of thewords of this sutta states that the element of heat plays its part in theprocess of ageing:

“ . . . whereby this body grows old, reaches thedecline of the faculties, loss of strength, wrinkles,greyness, and so on.”

As to the expression “burnt up”, it explains that when one is excitedthe internal element of heat causes the body to burn. The element ofheat also has a function in the digestion of food, it “cooks” what iseaten and drunk.

We may notice changes in body-temperature because of differentconditions, for instance through the digestion of our food, or whenwe are excited, angry or afraid. So long as we are still alive theinternal element of heat arises and falls away all the time. When heat

7This will be explained later on.

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presents itself and when there is awareness of it it can be known asonly a rupa element, not “my body-heat”. When we are absorbedin excitement, anger or fear we forget that there are in reality onlydifferent kinds of nama and rupa that arise and fall away.

The element of heat can be internal or external. Sariputta ex-plained that the liability to change of the external heat element andits impermanence can be seen when it becomes agitated and burnsup villages, towns, districts and regions, and is then extinguishedthrough lack of fuel. Both the internal and the external element ofheat are impermanent and not self.

As to the element of wind (in Pali: vayo dhatu) or motion, the“Visuddhimagga” (XI, 93) defines it as follows8 :

“. . . The air element (wind) has the characteristic ofdistending. Its function is to cause motion. It ismanifested as conveying9.”

We may believe that we can see motion of objects but the rupawhich is motion cannot be seen. What we mean by motion as weexpress it in conventional language is not the same as the element ofwind or motion. We notice that something has moved because of re-membrance of different moments of seeing and thinking of what wasperceived, but that is not the experience of the rupa which is motion.This rupa can be directly experienced through the bodysense. Whenwe touch a body or an object with a certain resilience, the characteris-tic of motion or pressure may present itself. These are characteristicsof the element of wind. It can also be described as vibration or os-cillation. As we read in the definition, the function of the elementof wind is to cause motion. It is, for example, a condition for themovement of the limbs of the body. However, we should not confusepictorial ideas with the direct experience of this rupa through thebodysense.

8See also Dhammasangan. i §648 and Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 332.9Taking from one point to another, Visuddhimagga XI, 93. The commentary ex-

plains: “Conveying is acting as cause for the successive arising at adjacent locationsof the conglomeration of elements.”


The element of wind or motion arises with all kinds of material-ity, both of the body and outside the body. There is also motion withdead matter, such as a pot. It performs its function so that the potholds its shape and does not collapse.

Sariputta explained about the internal element of motion:

“. . . And what, your reverences, is the internal element ofmotion? Whatever is motion, wind, is internal, referableto an individual and derived therefrom, such as windsgoing upwards, winds going downwards, winds in theabdomen, winds in the belly, winds that shoot across theseveral limbs, in-breathing, out-breathing, or whateverother thing is motion, wind, is internal. . . ”

We may notice pressure inside the body. When its character-istic appears it can be known as only a rupa that is conditioned.As to the words of the sutta, “winds that shoot across the severallimbs”, the “Visuddhimagga” (XI, 37) explains that these are: “winds(forces) that produce flexing, extending, etc., and are distributed overthe limbs and the whole body by means of the network of veins(nerves)”.

The element of wind plays its specific role in the strengthening ofthe body so that it does not collapse, and assumes different postures;it is a condition for the stretching and bending of the limbs. Whilewe are bending or stretching our arms and legs the element of windmay appear as motion or pressure. We read in the “Visuddhimagga”(XI, 92):

“The air element that courses through all the limbs andhas the characteristic of moving and distending, beingfounded upon earth, held together by water, andmaintained by fire, distends this body. And this body,being distended by the latter kind of air, does notcollapse, but stands erect, and being propelled by theother (moving) air, it shows intimation, and it flexes andextends and it wriggles the hands and feet, doing so inthe postures comprising walking, standing, sitting and

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lying down. So this mechanism of elements carries onlike a magic trick, deceiving foolish people with themale and female sex and so on.”

We are deceived and infatuated by the outward appearance of aman or a woman and we forget that this body is a “mechanism ofelements” and that it flexes and wriggles hands and feet, showingintimation by gestures or speech, because of conditions.

The above quoted sutta mentions, in connection with the elementof wind, in-breathing and out-breathing. The “Visuddhimagga” (XI,37) explains: “In-breath: wind in the nostrils entering in. Out-breath:wind in the nostrils issuing out.” We are breathing throughout life,but most of the time we are forgetful of realities, we cling to an ideaof “my breath”. Breath is rupa conditioned by citta and it presentsitself where it touches the nosetip or upperlip. If there can be aware-ness of it, the characteristics of hardness, softness, heat or motioncan be experienced one at a time. However, breath is very subtle andit is most difficult to be aware of its characteristic.

We read in the above quoted sutta that Sariputta explained thatthe external element of motion can become agitated and carry awayvillages. Its liability to change and its impermanence can be seen.Both the external and the internal element of motion are imperma-nent.

As we have seen, the four great Elements always arise together,and each of them has the other three as its proximate cause. The“Visuddhimagga” (XI, 109) states that the four great Elements con-dition one another: the earth element acts as the foundation of theelements of water, fire and wind; the water element acts as cohesionfor the other three Great Elements; the fire element maintains theother three Great Elements; the wind element acts as distension ofthe other three Great Elements.

We should remember that the element of water or cohesion can-not be experienced through the bodysense, only through the mind-door, and that the elements of earth, fire and wind can be directlyexperienced through the bodysense. The element of earth appearsas hardness or softness, the element of fire as heat or cold and the


element of wind as motion or pressure. Time and again rupas suchas hardness or heat impinge on the bodysense but we are forgetfulof what things really are. We let ourselves be deceived by the outerappearance of things. The “Visuddhimagga” (XI, 100) states that thefour Great Elements are “deceivers”:

“And just as the great creatures known as female spirits(yakkhinı) conceal their own fearfulness with a pleasingcolour, shape and gesture to deceive beings, so too, theseelements conceal each their own characteristics andfunction classed as hardness, etc., by means of a pleasingskin colour of women’s and men’s bodies, etc., andpleasing shapes of limbs and pleasing gestures offingers, toes and eyebrows, and they deceive simplepeople by concealing their own functions andcharacteristics beginning with hardness and do notallow their individual essences to be seen. Thus they aregreat primaries (maha-bhuta) in being equal to the greatcreatures (maha-bhuta), the female spirits, since they aredeceivers.”

Realities are not what they appear to be. One may be infatuatedby the beauty of men and women, but what one takes for a beautifulbody are mere rupa-elements.

The “Visuddhimagga” (XI, 98) states that the four Great Elementsare like the great creatures of a magician who “turns water that isnot crystal into crystal, and turns a clod that is not gold into gold. . . ”We are attached to crystal and gold, we are deceived by the outwardappearance of things. There is no crystal or gold in the ultimatesense, only rupas which arise and then fall away.

We may be able to know the difference between the moments thatwe are absorbed in concepts and ideas and mindfulness of realitiessuch as hardness or heat which appear one at a time. Mindfulness(sati) arises with kusala citta and it is mindful of one nama or rupa ata time. When we are, for example, stung by a mosquito, we may haveaversion towards the pain and we may be forgetful of realities suchas heat experienced at that moment through the bodysense. When

11

there are conditions for kusala citta with mindfulness, whatever re-ality appears can be object of mindfulness. This is the way graduallyto develop the understanding which knows nama and rupa as theyare: only elements that are impermanent and devoid of self.

As we read in the “Greater Discourse of the Simile of the Ele-phant’s Footprint”, different “parts of the body”, such as the hair ofthe head, the hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, are mentioned wherethe characteristics of the four Great Elements are apparent. The aimis to see the body as it really is. When Sariputta explained about thefour Great Elements he repeated after each section:

“. . . By means of perfect intuitive wisdom it should beseen of this as it really is, thus: This is not mine, this amI not, this is not myself. . . ”

Questions

1. Can the element of water be experienced through touch?

2. Can the characteristic of motion be experienced througheyesense?

3. What is the proximate cause of each of the four GreatElements?


Chapter 2

The Eight Inseparable Rupas

The four Great Elements of solidity, cohesion, temperature and mo-tion are always present wherever there is materiality. Apart fromthese four elements there are other rupas, namely twentyfour “de-rived rupas” (in Pali: upada rupas). The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II,Ch III, 305) explains about them: “. . . grasping the great essentials(great elements), not letting go, such (derived rupas) proceed in de-pendance upon them.” Thus, the derived rupas cannot arise withoutthe four Great Elements.

Four among the derived rupas always arise together with thefour Great Elements in every group of rupas and are thus presentwherever materiality occurs, no matter whether rupas of the bodyor materiality outside the body. These four rupas are the following:

visible object (or colour)

odour

flavour

nutrition

The four Great elements and these four derived rupas, whichalways arise together, are called the “inseparable rupas” (in Pali:avinibbhoga rupas). Wherever solidity arises, there also have to be

13

14 CHAPTER 2. THE EIGHT INSEPARABLES

cohesion, temperature, motion, colour, odour, flavour and nutritiveessence.

As regards visible object or colour, this is a rupa that can be ex-perienced through the eye-door. It is not a thing or a person. Visibleobject is the only rupa that can be seen.

Colours are different because of different conditions1 , but nomatter what colour appears we should remember that what is ex-perienced through the eye-door is the rupa which is visible, visibleobject. The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Ch III, 318) gives the followingdefinition of visible object 2:

“. . . For all this matter has the characteristic of strikingthe eye, the function or property of being in relation ofobject to visual cognition, the manifestation of being thefield of visual cognition, the proximate cause of the“four great essentials” (four Great Elements).”

Visible object has as its proximate cause the four Great Elementsbecause it cannot arise without them. However, when a characteristicof one of these four Great Elements, such as hardness or heat, isexperienced, the accompanying visible object cannot be experiencedat the same time.

When there are conditions for seeing, visible object is experi-enced. When we close our eyes, there may be remembrance of theshape and form of a thing, but that is not the experience of visibleobject. The thinking of a “thing”, no matter whether our eyes areclosed or open, is different from the actual experience of what isvisible.

We may find it difficult to know what visible object is, since weare usually absorbed in paying attention to the shape and form ofthings. When we perceive the shape and form of something, forexample of a chair, we think of a concept. A chair cannot impingeon the eyesense. Seeing does not see a chair, it only sees what isvisible. Seeing and thinking occur at different moments. We do

1See also Dhammasangan. i §617.2See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 54

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not think all the time, also moments of just seeing arise, momentsthat we do not pay attention to shape and form. Only one cittaat a time arises experiencing one object, but different experiencesarise closely one after the other. When one cannot distinguish themyet from each other, one believes that they occur all at the sametime. If we remember that visible object is the rupa which can beexperienced through the eyesense, right understanding of this realitycan be developed.

As we have seen, odour is another rupa among the eight insepa-rable rupas. Wherever materiality occurs, no matter whether of thebody or outside the body, there has to be odour. The “Dhamma-sangan. i” (§ 625) mentions different odours, pleasant and unpleas-ant, but they all are just odour which can be experienced throughthe nose. The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Ch III, 320) defines odour asfollows3 :

“. . . all odours have the characteristic of striking thesense of smell, the property of being the object ofolfactory cognition, the manifestation of being the fieldof the same. . . ”

It has as proximate cause the four Great Elements. Odour cannotarise alone, it needs the four Great Elements which arise togetherwith it and it is also accompanied by the other rupas included inthe eight inseparable rupas. When odour appears we tend to becarried away by like or dislike. We are attached to fragrant odoursand we loathe nasty smells. However, odour is only a reality whichis experienced through the nose and it does not last. If one does notdevelop understanding of realities one will be enslaved by all objectsexperienced through the senses. On account of these objects akusalacittas tend to arise. If someone thinks that there is a self who canown what is seen, touched or smelt, he may be inclined to commitunwholesome deeds such as stealing. In reality all these objects areinsignificant, they arise and then fall away immediately.

As regards flavour, the “Dhammasangan. i” (§629) mentions dif-ferent kinds of flavour, such as sour, sweet, bitter or pungent; they

3See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 56.


may be nice or nauseous, but they are all just flavour, experiencedthrough the tongue. The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Ch III, 320) de-fines flavour as follows4 :

“. . . all tastes have the characteristic of striking thetongue, the property of being the object of gustatorycognition, the manifestation of being the field of thesame. . . ”

Its proximate cause are the four Great Elements. Flavour does notarise alone, it needs the four Great Elements that arise together withit, and it is also accompanied by the other rupas included in the eightinseparable rupas. We are attached to food and we find its flavourvery important. As soon as we have tasted delicious flavour, attach-ment tends to arise. We are forgetful of the reality of flavour whichis only a kind of rupa. When we recognize what kind of flavour wetaste, we think about a concept, but this thinking is conditioned bythe experience of flavour through the tongue.

Nutrition is another kind of rupa which has to arise with everykind of materiality. It can be exerienced only through the mind-door. The “Dhammasangan. i” (§646) mentions food such as boiledrice, sour gruel, flour, etc., which can be eaten and digested into the“juice” by which living beings are kept alive. The “Atthasalinı” (II,Book II, Ch III, 330) explains that there is foodstuff, the substancewhich is swallowed (kabal.inkaro aharo, literally, morsel-made food),and the “nutritive essence” (oja). The foodstuff which is swallowedfills the stomach so that one does not grow hungry. The nutritiveessence present in food preserves beings, keeps them alive. The nu-tritive essence in gross foodstuff is weak, and in subtle foodstuff itis strong. After eating coarse grain one becomes hungry after a briefinterval. But when one has taken ghee (butter) one does not want toeat for a long time (Atthasalinı , 331).

The “Atthasalinı”(332) gives the following definition of nutri-ment5 :

4See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 575See also Visuddhimagga XIV, 70

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“As to its characteristic, etc., solid food has thecharacteristic of nutritive essence, the function offetching matter (to the eater), of sustaining matter as itsmanifestation, of substance to be swallowed asproximate cause.”

Nutritive essence is not only present in rice and other foods, it isalso present in what we call a rock or sand. It is present in any kindof materiality. Insects are able to digest what human beings cannotdigest, such as, for example, wood.

Nutrition is one of the four factors which produce rupas of thebody. As we have seen, the other factors are kamma, citta and tem-perature 6. In the unborn being in the mother’s womb, groups ofrupa produced by nutrition arise as soon as the nutritive essencepresent in food taken by its mother pervades its body (VisuddhimaggaXVII, 194). From then on nutrition keeps on producing rupas andsustaining the rupas of the body throughout life.

We can notice that nutrition produces rupas when good or badfood affects the body in different ways. Bad food may cause the skinto be ugly, whereas the taking of vitamins for example may causeskin and hair to look healthy.

Because of attachment we tend to be immoderate as to food. Weare not inclined to consider food as a medicine for our body. TheBuddha exhorted the monks to eat just the quantity of food neededto sustain the body but not more and to reflect wisely when eating(Visuddhimagga I, 85). The monk should review with understandingthe requisites he receives. We read in the “Visuddhimagga” (I, 124)about the right way of using the requisites (of robes, food, etc.):

“. . . For use is blameless in one who at the time ofreceiving robes, etc., reviews them either as (mere)elements or as repulsive, and puts them aside for lateruse, and in one who reviews them thus at the time ofusing them.”

6See Introduction.


The monk should review robes, and the other requisites of dwell-ing, food and medicines, as mere elements or as repulsive. If heconsiders food as repulsive it helps him not to indulge in it. Foodconsists merely of conditioned elements. This can be a useful re-minder, also for laypeople, to be mindful when eating.

In the commentary to the “Satipat.t.hana Sutta”7, in the sectionon Mindfulness of the Body, “Clear Comprehension in Partaking ofFood and Drink”, we read that, when one swallows food, there is noone who puts the food down into the stomach with a ladle or spoon,but there is the element of wind performing its function. We thenread about digestion:

“. . . There is no one who having put up an oven and lit afire is cooking each lump standing there. By only theprocess of caloricity (heat) the lump of food matures.There is no one who expels each digested lump with astick or pole. Just the process of oscillation (the elementof wind or motion) expels the digested food.”

There is no self who eats and drinks, there are only elementsperforming their functions.

Whatever kind of materiality arises, there have to be the fourGreat Elements and the four derived rupas of visible object, odour,flavour and nutrition.

Because of ignorance we are attached to our possessions. We mayunderstand that when life ends we cannot possess anything any-more. But even at this moment there is no “thing” we can possess,there are only different elements that do not stay. When we look atbeautiful things such as gems we tend to cling to them. However,through the eyes only colour or visible object appears and throughtouch tangible object such as hardness appears. In the absolute senseit does not make any difference whether it is hardness of a gem orhardness of a pebble that is experienced through touch. We may notlike to accept this truth since we find that gems and pebbles have

7The Papañcasudanı. See “The Way of Mindfulness”, a translation of theSatipat.t.hana Sutta, Middle Length Sayings I, 10, and its commentary, by Ven. Soma,B.P.S. Kandy.

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different values. We have accumulated conditions to think aboutconcepts and we neglect the development of understanding of reali-ties; we tend to forget that what we call gems and also the cittas thatenjoy them do not last, that they are gone immediately. Someonewho leads the life of a layman enjoys his possessions, but he canalso develop understanding of what things really are.

In the ultimate sense life exists only in one moment, the presentmoment. At the moment of seeing the world of visible object isexperienced, at the moment of hearing the world of sound, and atthe moment of touching the world of tangible object. Life is actuallyone moment of experiencing an object.

The “Book of Analysis”8 (Part 3, Analysis of the Elements, §173)mentions precious stones together with pebbles and gravel in orderto remind us of the truth. It explains about the internal elementof extension (solidity) as being hair of the head, hair of the bodyand other “parts of the body”. Then it explains about the externalelement of extension as follows:

“Therein what is the external element of extension? Thatwhich is external, hard, harsh, hardness, being hard,external, not grasped. For example: iron, copper, tin,lead, silver, pearl, gem, cat’s-eye, shell, stone, coral,silver coin, gold, ruby, variegated precious stone, grass,wood, gravel, potsherd, earth, rock, mountain; orwhatever else there is. . . ”

The elements give us pleasure or pain. When we do not realizethem as they are, we are enslaved by them. We read in the “KindredSayings”(II, Nidana-vagga, Ch XIV, Kindred Sayings on Elements,§34, Pain) that the Buddha said to the monks at Savatthı:

“If this earth-element, monks, this water-element, thisheat-element, this air-element were entirely painful,beset with pain, immersed in pain, not immersed inhappiness, beings would not be lusting after them. But

8Vibhanga, Second Book of the Abhidhamma, Pali Text Society, 1969.


inasmuch as each of these elements is pleasant, besetwith pleasure, immersed in pleasure, not in pain,therefore it is that beings get lusting after them.

If this earth-element, monks, this water-element, thisheat-element, this air-element were entirely pleasant,beset with pleasure, immersed in pleasure, notimmersed in pain, beings would not be repelled bythem. But inasmuch as each of these elements is painful,is beset with pain, immersed in pain, not immersed inpleasure, therefore it is that beings are repelled bythem.”

We are bound to be attached to the elements when we buy beau-tiful clothes or enjoy delicious food. We are bound to be repelled bythe elements when we get hurt or when we are sick. But no mat-ter whether the objects we experience are pleasant or unpleasant,we should realize them as elements that arise because of their ownconditions and that do not belong to us.

Questions

1. Is there nutrition with matter we call a table?

2. Why are eight rupas called the “inseparable rupas”?

3. Nutrition is one of the four factors which can produce rupa.Can it produce the materiality we call “tree”?

Chapter 3

The Sense-Organs (Pasada Rupas)

So long as there are conditions for birth we have to be born andto experience pleasant or unpleasant objects. It is kamma that pro-duces rebirth-consciousness as well as seeing, hearing and the othersense-impressions arising throughout our life. For the experience ofobjects through the senses there have to be sense-organs and theseare rupas produced by kamma as well. The sense-organs (pasadarupas) are physical results of kamma, whereas seeing, hearing andthe other sense-impressions are nama, vipakacittas which are themental results of kamma1.

Visible object and also the rupa which is eyesense are conditionsfor seeing. Eyesense does not know anything since it is rupa, but itis a necessary condition for seeing. Eyesense is a rupa in the eye,capable of receiving visible object, so that citta can experience it. Forhearing, the experience of sound, there has to be earsense, a rupa inthe ear, capable of receiving sound. There must be smellingsense forthe experience of odour, tastingsense for the experience of flavourand bodysense for the experience of tangible object. Thus, there arefive kinds of sense-organs.

As regards the eye, the “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Ch III, 306)distinguishes between the eye as “compound organ” and as “sentient

1See Introduction

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22 CHAPTER 3. THE SENSE-ORGANS

organ”, namely the rupa which is eyesense, situated in the eye 2. Theeye as “compound organ” is described as follows:

“. . . a lump of flesh is situated in the cavity of the eye,bound by the bone of the cavity of the eye below, by thebone of the brow above, by the eye-peaks on both sides,by the brain inside, by the eyelashes outside. . . Althoughthe world perceives the eye as white, as (of a certain)bigness, extension, width, they do not know the realsentient eye, but only the physical basis thereof. Thatlump of flesh situated in the cavity of the eye is boundto the brain by sinewy threads. Therein are white, black,red, extension, cohesion, heat and mobility. The eye iswhite from the abundance of phlegm, black from that ofbile, red from that of blood, rigid from the element ofextension, fluid from that of cohesion, hot from that ofheat, and oscillating from that of mobility. Such is thecompound organ of the eye. . . ”

As to the “sentient eye” or eyesense, this is to be found, accordingto the “Atthasalinı”, in the middle of the black circle, surrounded bywhite circles, and it permeates the ocular membranes “as sprinkledoil permeates seven cotton wicks.” We read:

“And it is served by the four elements doing thefunctions of sustaining, binding, maturing andvibrating3 , just as a princely boy is tended by fournurses doing the functions of holding, bathing, dressingand fanning him. And being upheld by the caloric order,by thought (citta) and nutriment, and guarded by lifeand attended by colour, odour, taste, etc., the organ, nobigger in size than the head of a louse, stands dulyfulfilling the nature of the basis and the door of visualcognition, etc. . . . ”

2In Pali: cakkhu pasada rupa3The earth element performs its function of sustaining, the water element of hold-

ing together, the fire element of maintaining or maturing, and the wind element ofoscillation.

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The “Visuddhimagga” (XIV, 37) gives the following definition ofeye-sense4:

“Herein, the eye’s characteristic is sensitivity of primaryelements that is ready for the impact of visible data; orits characteristic is sensitivity of primary elementsoriginated by kamma sourcing from desire to see. Itsfunction is to pick up (an object) among visible data. Itis manifested as the footing of eye-consciousness. Itsproximate cause is primary elements (the four GreatElements) born of kamma sourcing from desire to see.”

We have desire to see, we are attached to all sense-impressionsand, thus, there are still conditions for kamma to produce rebirth, toproduce seeing, hearing and the other sense-impressions, and also toproduce the sense-organs which are the conditions for the experienceof sense objects. Also in future lives there are bound to be sense-impressions.

Eyesense seems to last and we are inclined to take it for “self”.It seems that the same eyesense keeps on performing its function asa condition for seeing which also seems to last. However, eyesensearises and then falls away. At the next moment of seeing anothereyesense has arisen. All these eyesenses are produced by kamma,throughout our life. We may find it hard to grasp this truth becausewe are so used to thinking of “my eyesense” and to consider it assomething lasting.

The eyesense is extremely small, “no bigger in size than the headof a louse”, but it seems that the whole wide world comes to usthrough the eye. All that is visible is experienced through the eye-sense, but when we believe that we see the world, there is thinkingof a concept, not the experience of visible object. Our thinking isconditioned by seeing and by all the other sense-impressions.

The eye is compared to an ocean5, because it cannot be filled, itis unsatiable. We are attached to the eyesense and we want to go onseeing, it never is enough.

4See also Dhammasangan. i §597 and Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 312.5Dhammasangan. i §597. Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 308.


We read in the “Kindred Sayings” (IV, Sal.ayatana-vagga, FourthFifty, Ch 3, §187, The Ocean)6:

“. . . The eye, bhikkhus, is the ocean for a person; itscurrent consists of forms. One who withstands thatcurrent consisting of forms is said to have crossed theocean of the eye with its waves, whirlpools, sharks anddemons. Crossed over, gone beyond, the brahmin standson high ground.”

The same is said with regard to the other senses.We read in the “Therı gatha” (Psalms of the Sisters, Canto XIV,

71, Subha of Jıvaka’s Mango-grove) that the Therı Subha became ananagamı7 ; she had eradicated clinging to sense objects. A youngman, infatuated with the beauty of her eyes, wanted to tempt her.She warned him not to be deluded by the outward appearance ofthings. In reality there are only elements devoid of self. The Therısaid about her eye (vs. 395):

“What is this eye but a little ball lodged in the fork of ahollow tree,

Bubble of film, anointed with tear-brine, exuding slime-drops.

Compost wrought in the shape of an eye of manyfoldaspects?. . . ”

The Therı extracted one of her eyes and handed it to him. Theimpact of her lesson did not fail to cure the young man of his lust.Later on, in the presence of the Buddha, her eye was restored to her.She continued to develop insight and attained arahatship.

Eyesense is only an element devoid of self. It is one of the con-ditions for seeing. The “Visuddhimagga” (XV, 39) states about the

6I used the translation by Ven. Bodhi, “The Connected Discourses of the Buddha”.“Form” is his translation of rupa, which is actually visible object.

7There are four stages of enlightenment. The anagamı or “non-returner” hasreached the third stage. The arahat has reached the last stage.

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conditions for seeing: “Eye-consciousness arises due to eye, visibleobject, light and attention”.

Earsense is another sense-organ. The “Atthasalinı” states that it issituated in the interior of the ear, “at a spot shaped like a finger-ringand fringed by tender, tawny hairs. . . ” 8 Earsense is the rupa whichhas the capability to receive sound. It is basis and door of hearing-consciousness. The “Visuddhimagga” (XIV, 38) gives the followingdefinition9:

“The ear’s characteristic is sensitivity of primaryelements that is ready for impact of sounds; or itscharacteristic is sensitivity of primary elementsoriginated by kamma sourcing from desire to hear. Itsfunction is to pick up (an object) among sounds. It ismanifested as the footing of ear-consciousness. Itsproximate cause is primary elements born of kammasourcing from desire to hear.”

Without earsense there cannot be hearing. The “Visuddhimagga”(XV, 39) states: “Ear-consciousness arises due to ear, sound, apertureand attention.” “Aperture” is the cavity of the ear. If one of theseconditions is lacking hearing cannot arise.

As to the other pasada rupas, smellingsense, tastingsense andbodysense, these are defined in the same way10. Smellingsense is arupa situated in the nose. It is one of the conditions for smelling. The“Visuddhimagga”(XV, 39) states: “Nose-consciousness arises due tonose, odour, air (the element of wind or motion) and attention.” Asto the element of wind or motion being a condition, we read in the“Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 315):

“. . . the nose desires space, and has for object odourdependent on wind. Indeed, cattle at the first showers ofrain keep smelling at the earth, and turning up their

8Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 310.9See also “Dhammasangan. i §601 and Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 312.

10See Dhammasangan. i §605, 609, 613, Visuddhimagga XIV, 39, 40, 41, Atthasalinı ,Book II, Part I, Ch III, 312.


muzzles to the sky breathe in the wind. And when afragrant lump is taken in the fingers and smelt, no smellis got when breath is not inhaled. . . ”

As to tastingsense, this is situated in the tongue and it is one ofthe conditions for tasting. The “Visuddhimagga” states in the samesection: “Tongue-consciousness arises due to tongue, flavour, waterand attention.” Also the element of water or cohesion plays its partwhen tasting occurs. We read in the “Atthasalinı” (same section, 315)about the element of water being a condition for tasting:

“. . . Thus even when a bhikkhu’s duties have been doneduring the three watches of the night, and he, early inthe morning, taking bowl and robe, has to enter thevillage, he is not able to discern the taste of dry food if itis unwetted by the saliva. . . ”

As to bodysense, this is situated all over the body and insideit, except in the hairs or tips of the nails. It is one of the condi-tions for experiencing tactile object. The “Visuddhimagga” states, inthe same section: “Body-consciousness arises due to body, tangibleobject, earth and attention.” The “Atthasalinı” (same section, 315)explains:

“. . . Internal and external extension (solidity) is the causeof the tactile sense seizing the object. Thus it is notpossible to know the hardness or softness of a bed wellspread out or of fruits placed in the hand, withoutsitting down on the one or pressing the other. Henceinternal and external extension is the cause in the tactilecognition of the tactile organ.”

Thus, when tactile cognition, bodyconsciousness, arises, there areactually elements impinging on elements. The impact of tactile ob-ject on the bodysense is more vigorous than the impact of the objectson the other senses. According to the “Paramattha Mañjusa”, a com-mentary to the “Visuddhimagga”11, because of the violence of the

11See Visuddhimagga, XIV, footnote 56.

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impact on the bodysense, body-consciousness (kayaviññan. a) is ac-companied either by pleasant feeling or by painful feeling, not byindifferent feeling, whereas the other sense-cognitions (seeing, hear-ing, etc.) are accompanied only by indifferent feeling.

Through the bodysense are experienced: the earth element, ap-pearing as hardness or softness; the fire element, appearing as heator cold; the wind element, appearing as motion or pressure. Whenthese characteristics appear they can be directly experienced wher-ever there is bodysense, thus also inside the body.

As we have seen, visible object, sound, odour, flavour and tangi-ble object (which consists of three of the four Great Elements) are ex-perienced through the corresponding sense-doors and they can alsobe experienced through the mind-door. The sense-organs themselvesthrough which the sense-objects are experienced are rupas that canonly be known through the mind-door.

The five sense-organs are the bases (vatthus) or places of origin ofthe corresponding sense-cognitions. Cittas do not arise outside thebody, they are dependent on the physical bases where they originate12. The eyesense is the base where seeing-consciousness originates.The earsense is the base where hearing-consciousness originates, andit is the same in the case of the other sense-organs. As regards thebase for body-consciousness, this can be at any place on the bodywhere there is sensitivity. The sense-organs are bases only for thecorresponding sense-cognitions. All the other cittas have anotherbase, the heart-base; I shall deal with that later on.

The five sense-organs function also as doorways for the five kindsof sense-cognitions, as we have seen. The doorway (dvara) is themeans by which citta experiences an object. The eyesense is the door-way by which seeing-consciousness and also the other cittas arisingin that process experience visible object. As we have seen, cittaswhich experience objects impinging on the senses and the mind-door time and again, arise in processes of cittas.13 The cittas otherthan seeing-consciousness which arise in the eye-door process do

12There are also planes of existence where there is only nama, not rupa. In suchplanes cittas do not need a physical base.

13See Introduction.


not see, but they each perform their own function while they cog-nize visible object, such as considering visible object or investigatingit. Each of the five sense-organs can be the doorway for all the cit-tas in the process experiencing a sense-object through that doorway.The sense-organs can have the function of base as well as doorwayonly in the case of the five sense-cognitions.

The sense-organs arise and fall away all the time and they areonly doorway when an object is experienced through that sense-organ. Eyesense, for example, is only eye-door when visible objectis experienced by the cittas arising in the eye-door process. Whensound is experienced, earsense is doorway and eyesense does notfunction as doorway.

The “Atthasalinı“ (II, Book II, Ch III, 316) states that “the sensesare not mixed.” They each have their own characteristic, function,manifestation and proximate cause, and through each of them theappropriate object is experienced. The earsense can only receivesound, not visible object or flavour. Hearing can only experiencesound through the ear-door. We are not used to considering eachdoorway separately since we are inclined to think of a person whocoordinates all experiences. We are inclined to forget that a cittaarises because of conditions, experiences one object just for a mo-ment, and then falls away immediately. In order to help people tohave right understanding of realities, the Buddha spoke time andagain about each of the six doorways separately. He told people to“guard” the doorways in being mindful, because on account of whatis experienced through these doorways many kinds of defilementstend to arise.

We read in the “Kindred Sayings” (IV, Sal.ayatanavagga, ThirdFifty, Ch 3, §127, Bharadvaja) that King Udena asked the venerableBharadvaja what the cause was that young monks could practise therighteous life in its fulness and perfection. Bharadvaja spoke aboutthe advice the Buddha gave to them, such as seeing the foulness ofthe body, and guarding the six doors. We read that Bharadvaja said:

“. . . It has been said, Maharajah, by the Exalted One. . . :‘Come, monks, do you abide watchful over the doors of

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the faculties. Seeing an object with the eye, be notmisled by its outer view, nor by its lesser details. Butsince coveting and dejection, evil, unprofitable states,might overwhelm one who dwells with the faculty of theeye uncontrolled, do you apply yourselves to suchcontrol, set a guard over the faculty of the eye and attaincontrol of it. Hearing a sound with the ear. . . with thenose smelling a scent. . . with the tongue tasting asavour. . . with the body contacting tangibles. . . with themind cognizing mind-states. . . be you not misled bytheir outward appearance nor by their lesserdetails. . . attain control thereof. . . ’ ”

We then read that King Udena praised the Buddha’s words. Hesaid about his own experiences:

“I myself, master Bharadvaja, whenever I enter mypalace with body, speech and mind unguarded, withthought unsettled, with my faculties uncontrolled, atsuch times lustful states overwhelm me. But whenever,master Bharadvaja, I do so with body, speech and mindguarded, with thought settled, with my facultiescontrolled, at such times lustful states do not overwhelmme. . . ”

We read that King Udena took his refuge in the Buddha, theDhamma and the Sangha. How can we avoid being misled by theoutward appearance or by the details of phenomena? By under-standing realities as they are when they appear, one at a time. Thefollowing sutta in the “Kindred Sayings”(IV, Sal.ayatanavagga, Sec-ond Fifty, Ch 3, §82, The World) reminds us not to cling to a “whole”but to be mindful of only one object at a time as it appears throughone of the six doors:

“Then a certain monk came to see the ExaltedOne. . . Seated at one side that monk said to the ExaltedOne: ‘The world! The world! is the saying, lord. Howfar, lord, does this saying go?’


‘It crumbles away, monks. Therefore it is called theworld’ 14. What crumbles away? The eye. . . objects. . . eye-consciousness. . . eye-contact. . . thatpleasant or unpleasant or neutral feeling that arisesowing to eye-contact . . . tongue . . . body . . . mind . . . Itcrumbles away, monks. Therefore it is called the world’.”

Questions

1. Can eyesense experience something?

2. Where is the bodysense?

3. Is eyesense all the time eye-door?

4. For which type of citta is eyesense eye-door as wellas base (vatthu, physical place of origin)?

14In Pali there is a word association of loko, world, with lujjati, to crumble away.

Chapter 4

Sense Objects

We are infatuated with all the objects which are experienced throughthe sense-doors. However, they are only rupas that fall away imme-diately; we cannot possess them. Sometimes we experience pleas-ant objects and sometimes unpleasant objects. The experience of apleasant object is the result of kusala kamma and the experience ofan unpleasant object is the result of akusala kamma.

The objects which can be experienced through the sense-doorsare the following:

colour or visible object

sound

odour

flavour

tangible object

As we have seen in Chapter 2, three of the four Great Elementscan be tangible object, namely: solidity (appearing as hardness orsoftness), temperature (appearing as heat or cold) and motion (ap-pearing as motion, oscillation or pressure). The element of cohesion

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32 CHAPTER 4. SENSE OBJECTS

is not tangible object, it can be experienced only through the mind-door.

The sense objects which are visible object, odour and flavour areincluded in the “eight inseparable rupas” which always arise to-gether. As we have seen, rupas arise in groups and with each groupthere have to be the eight inseparable rupas which are the four GreatElements, visible object, odour, flavour and nutritive essence. Al-though these rupas arise together, only one kind of rupa at a timecan be the object that is experienced. When there are conditions forthe experience, for example, of flavour, the flavour that impingeson the tastingsense is experienced by tasting-consciousness. Flavourarises together with the other seven inseparable rupas but these arenot experienced at that moment.

Sound is the object of hearing-consciousness. Sound is not in-cluded in the eight inseparable rupas, but when it arises it has to beaccompanied by these rupas that each perform their own function.Whenever sound occurs, there also have to be solidity, cohesion, tem-perature, motion and the other four inseparable rupas. When soundis heard, the accompanying rupas cannot be experienced. 1

We read in the “Dhammasangan. i” (§621) about different kindsof sounds, such as sound of drums and other musical instruments,sound of singing, noise of people, sound of substance against sub-stance, sound of wind or water, human sound, such as sound ofpeople talking. The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 319),which gives a further explanation of these kinds of sounds, definessound as follows2:

. . . all sounds have the characteristic of striking the ear,the function and property of being the object of auditorycognition, the manifestation of being the field or objectof auditory cognition. . .

Like the other sense objects, sound has as its proximate causethe four Great Elements. No matter what sound we hear, it has a

1Because each citta can experience only one object at a time through the appropri-ate doorway.


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degree of loudness and it “strikes the ear”. Its characteristic can beexperienced without the need to think about it. We may hear thesound of a bird and it seems that we know at once the origin of thesound. When we know the origin of the sound it is not hearing, butthinking of a concept. However, the thinking is conditioned by thehearing.

It seems that we can hear different sounds at a time, for examplewhen a chord is played on the piano. When we recognize the differ-ent notes of a chord it is not hearing but thinking. When awarenessarises, one reality at a time can be known as it is.

Sound can be produced by temperature or by citta. Sound ofwind or sound of water is produced by temperature. Speech soundis produced by citta.

We are inclined to find a loud noise disturbing and we may makeourselves believe that at such a moment mindfulness of realities can-not arise. We read in the “Theragatha” (Psalms of the Brothers, PartVII, Canto 62, Vajjiputta) about a monk of the Vajjian clan who wasdwelling in a wood near Vesalı. The commentary to this verse (Para-matthadıpanı) states:

“. . . Now a festival took place at Vesalı, and there wasdancing, singing and reciting, all the people happilyenjoying the festival. And the sound thereof distractedthe bhikkhu, so that he quitted his solitude, gave up hisexercise, and showed forth his disgust in this verse:

Each by himself we in the forest dwell,

Like logs rejected by the woodman’s craft.

So flit the days one like another by,

Who more unlucky in their lot than we?

Now a woodland deva heard him, and had compassionfor the bhikkhu, and thus upbraided him, ‘Even thoughyou, bhikkhu, speak scornfully of forest life, the wisedesiring solitude think much of it,’ and to show him theadvantage of it spoke this verse:


Each by himself we in the forest dwell,

Like logs rejected by the woodman’s craft.

And many a one does envy me my lot,

Even as the hell-bound envies him who fares to heaven.

Then the bhikkhu, stirred like a thoroughbred horse bythe spur, went down into the avenue of insight, andstriving soon won arahatship. Thereupon he thought,‘The deva’s verse has been my goad!’ and he recited ithimself.”

By this Sutta we are reminded that aversion to noise is not help-ful. Mindfulness can arise of whatever reality presents itself. Whensound appears, correct understanding of this reality can be devel-oped. It can be known as a kind of rupa and it does not matter whatkind of sound it is. We are infatuated with pleasant sense objects anddisturbed by unpleasant ones. Like and dislike are realities of dailylife and they can be objects of awareness. We often find reasonswhy we cannot be mindful of the reality appearing at the presentmoment.

We would like to hear only pleasant things. When someonespeaks unpleasant words to us we are inclined to think about thisfor a long time instead of being mindful of realities. We may for-get that the moment of hearing is vipakacitta, result produced bykamma. Nobody can change vipaka. Hearing falls away immedi-ately. When we think with aversion about the meaning of the wordsthat were spoken, we accumulate unwholesomeness.

We read in the “Greater Discourse of the Elephant’s Footprint”(Middle Length Sayings I, 28) that Sariputta spoke to the monksabout the elements that are conditioned, impermanent and devoidof self. He also spoke about the hearing of unpleasant words:

“ . . . Your reverences, if others abuse, revile, annoy, vexthis monk, he comprehends: ‘This painful feeling thathas arisen in me is born of sensory impingement on theear, it has a cause, not no cause. What is the cause?

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Sensory impingement is the cause.’ He sees that sensoryimpingement is impermanent, he sees that feeling. . . perception . . . the habitual tendencies(sankharakkhandha) are impermanent, he sees thatconsciousness is impermanent 3. His mind rejoices, ispleased, composed, and is set on the objects of theelement. If, your reverences, others comport themselvesin undesirable, disagreeable, unpleasant ways towardsthat monk, and he receives blows from their hands andfrom clods of earth and from sticks and weapons, hecomprehends thus: ‘This body is such that blows fromhands affect it and blows from clods of earth affect itand blows from sticks affect it and blows from weaponsaffect it. But this was said by the Lord in the Parable ofthe Saw: If, monks, low-down thieves should carve youlimb from limb with a two-handled saw, whoever setshis heart at enmity, he, for this reason, is not a doer ofmy teaching. Unsluggish energy shall come to be stirredup by me, unmuddled mindfulness set up, the bodytranquillised, impassible, the mind composed andonepointed. Now, willingly, let blows from hands affectthis body, let blows from clods of earth . . . from sticks. . . from weapons affect it, for this teaching of theAwakened Ones is being done.’ ”

Do we see our experiences as elements to such a degree alreadythat, when we hear unpleasant words, we can immediately realize:“This painful feeling that has arisen in me is born of sensory im-pingement on the ear”? In order to see realities as they are it isnecessary to develop understanding of nama and rupa.

3This sutta refers to the five khandhas. Conditioned namas and rupas can beclassified as five khandhas or aggregates: rupakkhandha (comprising all rupas),vedanakkhandha or the khandha of feelings, saññakkhandha, the khandha of per-ception or remembrance, sankharakkhandha, the khandha of “habitual tenden-cies” or “formations”, including all cetasikas other than feeling and perception,viññan. akkhandha, including all cittas.


There are different ways of classifying rupas. One way is theclassification as the four Great Elements (maha-bhuta rupas) and thederived rupas (upada rupas), which are the other twentyfour rupasamong the twentyeight rupas.

Another way is the classification as gross rupas (ol.arika rupas)and subtle rupas (sukhuma rupas). Twelve kinds of rupa are gross;they are the sense-objects that can be experienced through the sense-doors, namely: visible object, sound, odour, flavour and the threerupas that are tangible object, namely: solidity, temperature and mo-tion, thus, three of the great Elements, and also the five sense-organs(pasada rupas) that can be the doors through which these objects areexperienced. The other sixteen rupas among the twentyeight kindsare subtle rupas.

The “Visuddhimagga” (XIV, 73) states that twelve rupas “are tobe taken as gross because of impinging; the rest is subtle becausethey are the opposite of that.” The seven rupas that can be senseobjects4 are impinging time and again on the five rupas which are thesense organs. Subtle rupas do not impinge on the senses. Accordingto the “Visuddhimagga”, the subtle rupas are far, because they aredifficult to penetrate, whereas the gross rupas are near, because theyare easy to penetrate.

Objects impinge on the senses time and again, but we are usuallyforgetful of realities. We have learnt about the four Great Elementsand other rupas and we may begin to notice different characteristicsof realities when they present themselves. For example, when weare walking, rupas such as hardness, heat or pressure may appearone at a time. We can learn the difference between the momentswhen characteristics of realities appear one at a time and when weare thinking of concepts such as feet and ground. The ground cannotimpinge on the bodysense and be directly experienced. The Buddhaurged the monks to develop right understanding during all theiractions. We read in the commentary to the “Satipat.t.hana Sutta”5, in

4They are visible object, sound, odour, flavour and three tangible objects which arethree among the Great Elements.

5In the Middle Length Sayings I, no 10. See the translation of the commentary tothis sutta in “The Way of Mindfulness” by Ven. Soma, B.P.S. Kandy, 1975.

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the section on the four kinds of Clear Comprehension, about clearcomprehension in wearing robes:

“ . . . Within there is nothing called a soul that robesitself. According to the method of exposition adoptedalready, only, by the diffusion of the process ofoscillation (the element of wind or motion) born ofmental activity does the act of robing take place. Therobe has no power to think and the body too has not thatpower. The robe is not aware of the fact that it is drapingthe body, and the body too of itself does not think: ‘I ambeing draped round with the robe.’ Mere processesclothe a process-heap, in the same way that a modelledfigure is covered with a piece of cloth. Therefore, there isneither room for elation on getting a fine robe nor fordepression on getting one that is not fine.”

This passage is a good reminder of the truth, also for laypeople.We are used to the impact of clothes on the body, most of the timewe do not even notice it. Or we are taken in by the pleasantness ofsoft material that touches the body, or by the colour of our clothes.We can be mindful of softness or colour as only elements. In realitythere are only elements impinging on elements.

We read in the “Gradual Sayings” (II, Book of the Fours, Ch XVIII,§7, Rahula) that the Buddha said to Rahula:

“Rahula, what is the inward earth-element and what isthe external earth-element, these are just thisearth-element. Thus it should be regarded, as it really is,by perfect wisdom: ‘This is not of me. Not this am I. Notto me is this the self.’ So seeing it, as it really is, byperfect wisdom, one has revulsion for the earth-element;by wisdom one cleanses the heart of passion.”

The same is said of the elements of water, heat and wind. TheBuddha then said:


“Now, Rahula, when a monk beholds neither the self norwhat pertains to the self in these four elements, this oneis called ‘a monk who has cut off craving, has loosed thebond, and by perfectly understanding (this) vain conceit,has made an end of Ill.’ ”

Questions

1. Which factors can produce sound?

2. When someone speaks, by which factor is sound produced?

3. Why are gross rupas so called?

4. Which rupas among the inseparable rupas are gross?

5. Through which doorways can gross rupas be known?

Chapter 5

Subtle Rupas produced by Kamma

The objects that can be experienced through the sense-doors as wellas the sense-organs themselves are gross rupas, the other rupas aresubtle rupas. As we have seen, seven rupas are sense objects, namely,colour or visible object, sound, odour, flavour and tangible objectincluding three of the four Great Elements which are solidity, tem-perature and motion. Five rupas are sense-organs, namely, eyesense,earsense, nosesense, tonguesense and bodysense. The sense objectsimpinge on the relevant senses so that seeing, hearing and the othersense-cognitions can arise time and again in daily life.

Among the twentyeight kinds of rupas, the sense objects and thesense-organs are twelve rupas which are gross, whereas the othersixteen rupas are subtle rupas.

The sense-organs are produced solely by kamma, not by the otherthree factors of citta, temperature and nutrition which can producerupas. There are also subtle rupas which are produced solely bykamma. They are: the femininity-faculty, the masculinity-faculty,the life-faculty and the heart-base.

With regard to the femininity-faculty (itthindriyam. ) and the mascu-linity-faculty (purisindriyam. ), collectively called bhavarupa or sex,these are rupas produced by kamma from the first moment of ourlife and throughout life. Thus, it is due to kamma whether one isborn as a male or as a female. The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Part I,

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40 CHAPTER 5. SUBTLE RUPAS AND KAMMA

Ch III, 322) explains that birth as a male and birth as a female aredifferent kinds of vipaka. Being born as a human being is kusalavipaka, but since good deeds have different degrees also their re-sults have different degrees. Birth as a female is the result of kusalakamma of a lesser degree than the kusala kamma that conditionsbirth as a male. In the course of life one can notice the differencebetween the status of men and that of women. It is a fact that insociety generally men are esteemed higher than women. Usuallywomen cannot so easily obtain a position of honour in society. Butas regards the development of wisdom, both men and women candevelop it and attain arahatship. We read in the “Kindred Sayings”(IV, Sal.ayatana-vagga, Part III, Kindred Sayings about Womankind,3, §34, Growth):

“Increasing in five growths, monks, the ariyan womandisciple increases in the ariyan growth, takes hold of theessential, takes hold of the better. What five?

She grows in confidence (saddha), grows in virtue (sı la),in learning, in generosity, in wisdom. Making suchgrowth, monks, she takes hold of the essential, she takeshold of the better . . . ”

The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Ch III, 321) explains that womenand men have different features, that they are different in outer ap-pearance, in occupation and deportment. The feminine features,etc. are conditioned by the rupa that is the femininity faculty. The“Atthasalinı” states about these features:

“ . . . They are produced in course of process because ofthat faculty. When there is seed the tree grows becauseof the seed, and is replete with branch and twig andstands filling the sky; so when there is the femininecontrolling faculty called femininity, feminine features,etc. , come to be . . . ”

The same is said about the masculinity faculty. Femininity andmasculinity are “controlling faculties”. A controlling faculty or in-driya is a “leader” in its own field, it has a predominant influence.

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The controlling faculties of femininity and masculinity permeate thewhole body so that they are manifested in the outward appearanceand features of a woman and a man.

The “Atthasalinı” (same section, 322) gives the following defini-tions of the femininity faculty and the masculinity faculty:

“Of these two controlling faculties the feminine has thecharacteristic of (knowing) the state of woman, thefunction of showing “this is woman”, the manifestationwhich is the cause of femininity in feature, mark,occupation, deportment.

The masculinity controlling faculty has the characteristicof (knowing) the state of man, the function of showing“this is man”, the manifestation which is the cause ofmasculinity in feature, etc. 1”

These two faculties which, as the Visuddhimagga (XIV, 58) ex-plains, are “coextensive with” or pervade the whole body, are notknown by visual cognition but only by mind-cognition. But, as the“Atthasalinı” (321) states, their characteristic features, etc., whichare conditioned by their respective faculties, can be known by visualcognition as well as by mind-cognition.

Seeing experiences only visible object, it does not know “This isa woman” or “This is a man”. The citta which recognizes feminineor masculine features does so through the mind-door, but this rec-ognizing is conditioned by seeing. When the commentary states thatthese characteristic features are known by visual cognition as wellas by mind-cognition, it does not speak in detail about the differ-ent processes of cittas experiencing objects through the eye-door andthrough the mind-door.

Generally, women like to emphasize their femininity in make upand clothes and also men like to emphasize their masculinity in theiroutward appearance and behaviour. One clings to one’s feminine ormasculine features, one’s way of deportment. We should not forgetthat it is the femininity faculty or masculinity faculty, only a rupa

1See also Dhammasangan. i §633, 634 and Visuddhimagga XIV, 58.


produced by kamma, which conditions our outward appearance ordeportment to be specifically feminine or masculine. We take oursex for self, but it is only a conditioned element devoid of self.

Life faculty, the rupa which is jıvitindriya, is also a subtle rupaproduced by kamma from the first moment of life and throughoutlife.

Apart from rupa-jıvitindriya there is also nama-jıvitindriya. Nama-jıvitindriya is a cetasika among the “universals”, cetasikas whichaccompany every citta. This cetasika supports the citta and thecetasikas it arises together with, it maintains their life.

The rupa that is life faculty, rupa-jıvitindriya, sustains and main-tains the rupas it accompanies in one group of rupas. This kind ofrupa is produced solely by kamma, it arises only in living beings.Therefore, the rupas in the bodies of living beings are different fromthose in dead matter or plants which are produced solely by temper-ature or the element of heat. The rupa that is life faculty is containedin each group of rupas of the body produced by kamma.

Life faculty is a “controlling faculty” (indriya), it has a domi-nating influence over the other rupas it arises together with since itmaintains their life. The “Visuddhimagga” (XIV, 59) states about lifefaculty:2

“The life faculty has the characteristic of maintainingconascent kinds of matter.3 Its function is to make themoccur. It is manifested in the establishing of theirpresence. Its proximate cause is primary elements thatare to be sustained.”

Life faculty maintains the other rupas it arises together with inone group, and then it falls away together with them. The “Visud-dhimagga” (in the same section) states:

“It does not prolong presence at the moment ofdissolution because it is itself dissolving, like the flame

2See also Dhammasangan. i §635. The Atthasalinı refers to its definition of nama-jıvitindriya (I, Part IV, Ch I, 123, 124)

3The rupas arising together with it.

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of a lamp when the wick and the oil are getting usedup. . . ”

We cling to our body as something alive. Rupas of a “livingbody” have a quality lacking in dead matter or plants, they are sup-ported by the life faculty. We are inclined to take this quality for“self”, but it is only a rupa produced by kamma.

The heart-base (hadayavatthu) is another rupa produced solelyby kamma. In the planes of existence where there are nama andrupa, cittas have a physical place of origin, a base (vatthu). Seeing-consciousness has as its base the eye-base, the rupa which is eye-sense, and evenso have the other sense-cognitions their appropriatebases where they arise. Apart from the sense-bases there is anotherbase: the heart-base. This is the place of origin for all cittas otherthan the sense-cognitions.

At the first moment of life the rebirth-consciousness (pat.isan-dhi-citta) which arises is produced by kamma. If this citta arisesin a plane of existence where there are nama and rupa it musthave a physical base: this is the heart-base, which is produced bykamma. Kamma produces this rupa from the first moment of lifeand throughout life.

The rupa which is the heart-base has not been classified as suchin the “Dhammasangan. i”, but it is referred to as “this rupa” inthe “Book of Conditional Relations” (Pat.t.hana), the Seventh Bookof the Abhidhamma. In the section on “Dependance Condition”(Part II, Analytical Exposition of Conditions) it is said that depen-dant on the five sense-bases the five sense-cognitions arise and thatdependant on “this matter” mind-element and mind-consciousness-element arise. “This matter” is the rupa which is the heart-base; themind-element and mind-consciousness-element comprise all cittasother than the five sense-cognitions.4 The sense-cognitions of see-ing, etc. have the appropriate sense-base as physical base, and allother cittas have the heart-base as physical base.

4Mind-element are the five-sense-door adverting-consciousness and the two typesof receiving-consciousness, which are kusala vipaka and akusala vipaka. Mind-consciousness-element are all cittas other than the sense-cognitions and mind-element.


The “Visuddhimagga” (XIV, 60) gives the following definition ofthe heart-base5:

“The heart-basis has the characteristic of being the(material) support for the mind-element and for themind-consciousness-element. Its function is to supportthem. It is manifested as the carrying of them . . . ”

The “Visuddhimagga” (VIII, 111,112) states that the heart-baseis to be found inside the heart. It is of no use to speculate whereexactly the heart-base is. It is sufficient to know that there is a rupawhich is base for all cittas other than the sense-cognitions. We maynot experience the heart-base as such, but if there would be no heart-base we could not think at this moment, we could not know whichobjects we are experiencing, we could not feel happy or unhappy.In the planes of existence where there are nama and rupa all cittasmust have a physical base, they cannot arise outside the body. Whenwe, for example, are angry, cittas rooted in aversion arise and theseoriginate at the heart-base.

If we had not studied the Abhidhamma we would have thoughtthat all cittas originate in what we call in conventional language“brain”. One may cling to a concept of brain and take it for self. TheAbhidhamma can clear up misunderstandings about bodily phe-nomena and mental phenomena and the way they function. It ex-plains how physical phenomena and mental phenomena are interre-lated. Mental phenomena are dependant on physical phenomena6

and physical phenomena can have mental phenomena as condition-ing factors.

The conditioning factors for what we call body and mind areimpermanent. Why then do we take body and mind for somethingpermanent? We read in the “Kindred Sayings” (III, Khandha-vagga,

5The Atthasalinı does not classify the heart-base separately, but it mentions the“basis-decad”, a group of ten rupas including the heart-base ( Book II, Ch III, 316).As I shall explain later on, from the first moment of our life kamma produces threedecads, groups of ten rupas: the bodysense-decad, the sex-decad and the heart-base-decad.

6In the planes of existence where there are nama and rupa.

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Kindred Sayings on Elements, First Fifty, Ch 2, §18, Cause) that theBuddha said to the monks at Savatthı:

“Body, monks is impermanent. That which is the cause,that which is the condition for the arising of body, thatalso is impermanent. How, monks, can a body which iscompounded of the impermanent come to bepermanent? . . . ”

The same is said about the mental phenomena (classified as fouraggregates or khandhas). We then read:

“Thus seeing, the welltaught ariyan disciple7 is repelledby body, is repelled by feeling, by perception, by the‘activities’ 8. He is repelled by consciousness. Beingrepelled by it he lusts not for it: not lusting he is set free.Thus he realizes: ‘Rebirth is destroyed, lived is therighteous life, done is my task, for life in theseconditions there is no here-after.’ ”

Questions

1. Why can life faculty not arise in plants?

2. What is the base for citta rooted in aversion?

3. Does the brain have the function of base for cittas?

4. What is the base for rebirth-consciousness in the human planeof existence?

7An ariyan is a person who has attained enlightenment.8Cetasikas other than feeling and perception are classified as one khandha, that of

the activities or formations, sankharakkhandha.


Chapter 6

Intimation through Body and Speech

Citta is one of the four factors that produces rupa. We look differentwhen we laugh, when we cry, when we are angry or when we aregenerous. Then we can notice that citta produces rupa.

Bodily intimation (kayaviññatti) and speech intimation (vacı viñ-ñatti) are two kinds of rupa, originated by citta. They are not pro-duced by the other three factors that can produce rupa, by kamma,temperature or nutrition.

As to bodily intimation, this is a specific way of expression byrupas of the body that display our intentions, be they wholesome orunwholesome. Our intentions can be expressed by way of movementof the body, of the limbs, facial movement or gestures. The intentionexpressed through bodily intimation can be understood by others,even by animals. Bodily intimation itself is rupa, it does not knowanything. We read in the “Dhammasangan. i” (§636):

“What is that rupa which is bodily intimation(kayaviññatti)?

That tension, that intentness, that state of making thebody tense, in response to a thought, whether good orbad, or indeterminate (kiriyacitta), on the part of onewho advances, or recedes, or fixes the gaze, or glancesaround, or retracts an arm, or stretches it forth - the

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48 CHAPTER 6. INTIMATION

intimation, the making known, the state of having madeknown - this is that rupa which constitutes bodilyintimation.”

Citta is one of the factors that produces groups of the “eight in-separable rupas” of the body1 and among them the element of windor motion plays its specific part in causing motion of rupas of thebody so that intimation can be displayed.

The “Atthasalinı” (I, Book I, Part III, 82, 83) states about bodilyintimation:

“Because it is a capacity of communicating, it is called“intimation”. What does it communicate? A certainwish communicable by an act of the body. If anyonestands in the path of the eye, raises his hands or feet,shakes his head or brow, the movement of his hands, etc.are visible. Intimation, however, is not so visible; it isonly knowable by the mind. For one sees by the eye acolour-surface moving by virtue of the change ofposition in hands, etc.2 But by reflecting on it asintimation, one knows it by mind-door-consciousness,thus: ‘Imagine that this man wishes me to do this or thatact.’ . . . ”

The intention expressed through bodily intimation is intelligi-ble to others, not through the eye-door but through the mind-door.Knowing, for example, that someone waves is cognition through themind-door and this cognition is conditioned by seeing-consciousnessthat experiences visible object or colour. The meaning of what hasbeen intimated is known by reflection on it, thus it can only be cog-nized through the mind-door.

The “Visuddhimagga” (XIV, 61) defines intimation in a similarway and then states about its function, manifestation and proximatecause:

1The four Great Elements of solidity, cohesion, temperature and motion, and visi-ble object, odour, flavour and nutrition.

2Because of sañña, remembrance, one can perceive the movement of a colour sur-face. Seeing sees only colour, it cannot see movement of colour.

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“ . . . Its function is to display intention. It is manifestedas the cause of bodily excitement. Its proximate cause isthe consciousness-originated air- element.”

As to the proximate cause, as we have seen, the element of wind(air) or motion plays its specific role in the intimating of intention bybodily movement or gestures.

We are inclined to take intimation as belonging to self, but bod-ily intimation is only a kind of rupa, originated by citta. There isno person who communicates by gestures. Are we aware of namaand rupa when we gesticulate? Are there kusala cittas or akusalacittas at such moments? Most of the time akusala cittas arise, butwe do not notice it. Do we realize which type of citta conditions thebodily intimation when we wave to someone else in order to greethim, when we gesticulate in order to tell him to come nearer, whenwe nod our head while we agree with something or shake it whilewe deny something? Such gestures are part of our daily routineand it seems that we make them automatically. Perhaps we neverconsidered what types of citta condition them. Akusala citta condi-tions bodily intimation, for example, when we with mimics ridiculesomeone else or show our contempt for him. In such cases it is ob-vious that there is akusala citta. We should remember that bodilyintimation is more often conditioned by akusala citta than by kusalacitta. There may be subtle clinging that is not so obvious while weare expressing our intention by gestures. When mindfulness ariseswe can find out whether kusala citta or akusala citta motivates ourgestures. Someone may also commit akusala kamma through bod-ily intimation, for example when he gives by gesture orders to kill.Kusala cittas may condition bodily intimation when we, for exam-ple, stretch out our arms to welcome people to our home, when westretch out our hand in order to give something, when we point outthe way to someone who is in a strange city, when we by our ges-tures express courtesy or when we show respect to someone whodeserves respect. However, we may also perform such actions be-cause of selfish motives, or we may be insincere, and then akusalacittas condition bodily intimation. More knowledge about citta and


rupas which are conditioned by citta can remind us to be aware ofwhatever reality appears, also while gesticulating. Then akusala cittahas no opportunity to arise at such moments.

Our intentions are not only communicated by gestures, but alsoby speech. Speech intimation (vacı viññatti) is a kind of rupa, origi-nated by citta. The “Dhammasangan. i” ( Ch II, §637) states:

“What is that rupa which is intimation by language (vacıviññatti)?

That speech, voice, enunciation, utterance, noise, makingnoises, language as articulate speech, which expresses athought whether good, bad, or indeterminate - this iscalled language. And that intimation, that makingknown, the state of having made known by language -this is that rupa which constitutes intimation bylanguage.”

When someone’s intention is intimated through speech, it is in-telligible to others. The meaning of what is intimated is known by re-flection about it, thus, it is cognizable through the mind-door. Speechintimation itself does not know anything, it is rupa.

Citta is one of the factors that produces the “eight inseparablerupas” of the body and among them the element of earth or hardnessplays a specific part in the conditioning of speech intimation.

The “Visuddhimagga” (XIV, 62)3 states that the function of speechintimation is to display intention, its manifestation is causing speechsound, and that its proximate cause is the earth element originatedfrom citta. The proximate cause of bodily intimation is the elementof wind or motion which is produced by citta, whereas the proxi-mate cause of speech intimation is the element of earth or hardnesswhich is produced by citta. When speech-intimation occurs it is thecondition for the rupas which are the means of articulation, such asrupas of the lips, to produce speech sound.

Rupas can be classified as sabhava rupas, rupas with their owndistinct nature (sa meaning: with, bhava meaning: nature) and asabh-

3See Atthasalinı I, Book I, Part III, Ch 2, 86,87, and II, Book II, Part I, Ch 3, 324.

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ava rupas, rupas without their own distinct nature. The eight insep-arable rupas are sabhava rupas, they each have their own distinctnature and characteristic. Bodily intimation and speech intimationare rupas conditioned by citta, but these two kinds of rupa are notrupas with their own distinct nature and characteristic. They are, asthe “Atthasalinı” expresses it, a “certain, unique change” in the greatelements which are produced by citta and which are the conditionfor the two kinds of intimation. They are qualities of rupa and there-fore, asabhava rupas. The eight inseparable rupas on which the twokinds of intimation depend are produced by citta, according to the“Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Part I, Ch 3, 337).

Do we realize whether speech intimation is conditioned by kusalacitta or by akusala citta? We may know in theory that we speak withakusala citta when our objective is not wholesomeness, such as gen-erosity, kindness or the development of understanding of the Bud-dha’s teachings, but do we realize this at the moments we speak?Even when akusala kamma through speech, such as lying or slan-dering, is not committed, we may still speak with akusala citta. Wemay find out that often our speech is motivated by akusala citta. Wespeak with cittas rooted in attachment when we want to gain some-thing, when we want to be liked or admired by others. With thisobjective we may even tell “tales” about others, ridicule or denigratethem. We are attached to speech and we often chatter just in orderto keep the conversation going. We tend to feel lonely when there issilence. Usually we do not consider whether what we say is benefi-cial or not. We have to speak to others when we organize our workin the office or at home. Do we realize whether there are at suchmoments kusala cittas or akusala cittas? When we lie we commitakusala kamma through speech.

Speech intimation is produced by kusala citta when we, for exam-ple, with generosity and kindness try to help and encourage othersin speaking to them. When we speak about the Buddha’s teachingsthere may be kusala cittas, but at times there also tend to be akusalacittas, for example, when we are conceited about our knowledge, orwhen we are attached to the people we are speaking to. Many dif-ferent types of citta arise and fall away very rapidly and we may not


know when the citta is kusala citta and when akusala citta. Therecan be mindfulness of nama and rupa while speaking. One may be-lieve that this is not possible because one has to think of the wordsone wants to speak. However, thinking is a reality and it can also beobject of mindfulness. There are sound and hearing and they can beobject of mindfulness when they appear. We are usually absorbed inthe subject we want to speak about and we attach great importanceto our speech. We live most of the time in the world of “conventionaltruth”, and we are forgetful of ultimate realities (paramattha dham-mas). In the ultimate sense there is no speaker, only phenomena,devoid of self, conditioned namas and rupas.

When we gesticulate and speak, hardness, pressure, sound orhearing may present themselves, they can be experienced one at atime. If there is mindfulness at such moments, understanding of thereality that appears can be developed.

The “Visuddhimagga” (XVIII, 31) uses a simile of a marionette inorder to illustrate that there is no human being in the ultimate sense,only conditioned phenomena. We read:

“Therefore, just as a marionette is void, soulless andwithout curiosity, and while it walks and stands merelythrough the combination of strings and wood, yet itseems as if it had curiosity and interestedness, so too,this mentality-materiality is void, soulless and withoutcuriosity, and while it walks and stands merely throughthe combination of the two together, yet it seems as if ithad curiosity and interestedness. This is how it shouldbe regarded. Hence the Ancients said:

‘The mental and material are really here,

‘But here there is no human being to be found,

‘For it is void and merely fashioned like a doll–

‘Just suffering piled up like grass and sticks.”

When one sees a performance with marionettes, it seems thatthe puppets have lives of their own: they exert themselves, they are

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absorbed, attached or full of hatred and sorrow, and one can laughand cry because of the story that is being enacted. However, thepuppets are only wood and strings, held by men who make themact. When one sees how the puppets are stored after the play theyare not impressive anymore, only pieces of wood and strings. Whenwe study the Abhidhamma it helps us to understand more that thismarionette we call “self” can move about, act and speak because ofthe appropriate conditions.

As we have seen in the definitions of the two kinds of intimationby the ‘Dhammasangan. i” (§636, 637), these two kinds of rupa can beconditioned by kusala citta, akusala citta or “inoperative” citta (kiriy-acitta). When we realize that intimation through body and speechis very often conditioned by akusala citta, we come to see the dan-ger of being forgetful of nama and rupa while we make gestures andspeak. Then we are urged to remember the Buddha’s words as to thepractice of “clear comprehension” (sampajañña) in the “Satipat.t.hanaSutta” (Middle Length Sayings no. 10, in the section on Mindfulnessof the Body, dealing with the four kinds of clear comprehension4) :

“And further, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, in going forwards(and) in going backwards, is a person practising clearcomprehension; in looking straight on (and) in lookingaway from the front, is a person practising clearcomprehension; in bending and in stretching, is a personpractising clear comprehension; in wearing theshoulder-cloak, the (other two) robes (and) the bowl, is aperson practising clear comprehension; in regard towhat is eaten, drunk, chewed and savoured, is a personpractising clear comprehension; in defecating and inurinating, is a person practising clear comprehension; inwalking, in standing (in a place), in sitting (in someposition), in sleeping, in waking, in speaking and inkeeping silence, is a person practising clearcomprehension.”

4See the translation in “The Way of Mindfulness” by Ven. Soma.


Questions

1. Can bodily intimation be the body-door through which a gooddeed or an evil deed is being performed?

2. Through which door can what is being intimated by bodilymovement be recognized?

3. When a conductor conducts an orchestra and he makes ges-tures in order to show the musicians how to play the music,which types of citta can produce the bodily intimation?

4. When one slanders, which type of rupa is the door throughwhich such action is being performed?

5. When we speak to others in order to organize our work, canspeech be conditioned by akusala citta?

Chapter 7

Rupas from different Factors

The study of rupas produced by kamma, citta, temperature or nutri-tion is beneficial for the understanding of our daily life. When westudy the conditions for our daily experiences and bodily functions,we shall better understand that our life is only nama and rupa. Thisagain reminds us to be aware so that realities can be known as theyare.

In this human plane of existence experiences through the sensesarise time and again, such as seeing and hearing, and these could notoccur without the body. The sense-cognitions have as their physicalplaces of origin their appropriate sense-bases (vatthus) and these areproduced by kamma throughout our life. All other cittas have astheir physical base the heart-base (hadaya-vatthu) and this kind ofrupa is produced by kamma from the first moment of life. In theplanes of existence where there are nama and rupa, citta needs aphysical base, it could not arise without the body. The rupa that islife-faculty (jıvitindriya) is also produced by kamma from the firstmoment of life. It supports the other rupas of the group of rupasproduced by kamma. Moreover, it is due to kamma whether we areborn as a female or as a male. The rupas that are the femininity-faculty (itthindriyam. ) and the masculinity-faculty (purisindriyam. )have a great influence on our daily life. They condition our out-ward appearance, our behaviour, the way we walk, stand, sit or lie

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56 CHAPTER 7. RUPAS FROM DIFFERENT FACTORS

down, our voice, our occupation, our place and status in society. Allthese kinds of rupa produced by kamma arise in groups, that alwaysinclude the eight inseparable rupas and also life-faculty.

Some kinds of rupa are produced solely by kamma, some areproduced solely by citta, such as bodily intimation (kaya-viññatti)and speech-intimation (vacı-viññatti). Some kinds of rupa can beproduced by kamma, citta, temperature or nutrition. The eight in-separable rupas of solidity, cohesion, temperature, motion, colour,odour, flavour and nutrition can be produced by either one of thefour factors. If kamma produces them, they always arise togetherwith life-faculty, and in addition they can arise with other rupasproduced by kamma. Citta produces groups of the eight insepara-ble rupas from the moment the bhavanga-citta (life-continuum) thatsucceeds the rebirth-consciousness arises.

The following three kinds of rupa are sometimes produced bycitta, sometimes by temperature, sometimes by nutrition. They are:

buoyancy or lightness (lahuta)

plasticity (muduta)

wieldiness (kammaññata)

nBecause of lightness, our body is not heavy or sluggish. Because

of plasticity it is pliable, it has elasticity and is not stiff. Because ofwieldiness it has adaptability. For the movement of the body and theperformance of its functions, these three qualities are essential. Theyarise in the bodies of living beings, not in dead matter. These threerupas are rupas without a distinct nature, asabhava rupas; they arequalities of rupa, namely, changeability of rupa (vikara rupas, vikarameaning change)1. The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 326)gives the following definitions of these three kinds of rupa 2 :

1As we have seen in Ch 6, the two rupas of bodily intimation, kaya viññatti, andspeech intimation, vaci viññatti, are also qualities of rupa that are changeability ofrupa, vikara rupas. In some texts bodily intimation and speech intimation are classi-fied separately as the two rupas of intimation, viññatti rupas.

2See also Dhammasangan. i §639 - 641 and Visuddhimagga XIV, 64.

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“ . . . buoyancy of matter has non-sluggishness as itscharacteristic, removing the heaviness of material objectsas its function, quickness of change as its manifestation,buoyant matter as its proximate cause.

Next ‘plasticity of matter’ has non-rigidity ascharacteristic, removing the rigidity of material objectsas function, absence of opposition in all acts due to itsown plasticity as manifestation, plastic matter asproximate cause.

‘Wieldiness of matter’ has workableness suitable orfavorable to bodily actions as characteristic, removal ofnon-workableness as function, non- weakness asmanifestation, workable matter as proximate cause.”

The “Atthasalinı” also states that these three qualities “do notabandon each other”. When one of them arises, the others haveto arise as well. They never arise without the eight inseparablerupas. Although the qualities of lightness, plasticity and wieldinessarise together, they are different from each other. The “Atthasalinı”(in the same section) explains their differences. Buoyancy is non-sluggishness and it is like the quick movement of one free from ail-ment. Plasticity is plasticity of objects like well-pounded leather, andit is distinguished by tractability. Wieldiness is wieldiness of objectslike well-polished gold and it is distinguished by suitableness for allbodily actions. When one is sick, the elements of the body are dis-turbed, and the body is sluggish, stiff and without adaptability. Weread in the “Visuddhimagga” (VIII, 28) about the disturbance of theelements:

“ . . . But with the disturbance of the earth element even astrong man’s life can be terminated if his body becomesrigid, or with the disturbance of one of the elementsbeginning with water if his body becomes flaccid andputrifies with a flux of the bowels, etc., or if he isconsumed by a bad fever, or if he suffers a severing ofhis limb-joint ligatures.”


When one is healthy, there are conditions for lightness, plasticityand wieldiness of body. The “Atthasalinı” states that these threequalities are not produced by kamma, but that they are produced bycitta, temperature or nutrition. This commentary states (in the samesection, 327):

“ . . . Thus ascetics say, ‘Today we have agreeable food. . . today we have suitable weather . . . today our mind isone-pointed, our body is light, plastic and wieldy.’ ”

When we have suitable food and the temperature is right we maynotice that we are healthy, that the body is not rigid and that it canmove in a supple way. Not only food and temperature, also kusalacitta can influence our physical condition. When we apply ourselvesto mental development it can condition suppleness of the body. Thuswe can verify in our daily life what is taught in the Abhidhamma.

Lightness, plasticity and wieldiness condition our bodily move-ments to be supple. When we are speaking they condition the func-tion of speech to be supple and “workable”. Whenever we noticethat there are bodily lightness, plasticity and wieldiness, we shouldremember that they are qualities of rupa, conditioned by citta, tem-perature or nutrition.

Rupas always arise in groups (kalapas) consisting of at least eightrupas, the eight inseparable rupas. There are rupas other than theseeight and these arise in a group together with the eight insepara-ble rupas. Our body consists of different groups of rupas and eachgroup is surrounded by infinitesimally tiny space, and this is therupa that is called space (akasa)3. The rupas within a group areholding tightly together and cannot be divided, and the rupa spaceallows the different groups to be distinct from each other. Thus, itsfunction is separating or delimiting the different groups of rupas,and therefore it is also called pariccheda rupa, the rupa that delimits(pariccheda meaning limit or boundary). The rupa space is a rupawithout its own distinct nature (asabhava rupa), and it arises simul-taneously with the different groups of rupa it surrounds.

3I used for the description of space Acharn Sujin’s “Survey of Paramattha Dham-mas”, Ch 4.

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The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 326) states that spaceis that which cannot be scratched, cut or broken. It is “untouched bythe four great Elements.” Space cannot be touched. The “Atthasalinı”gives the following definition of space 4 :

“ . . . space-element has the characteristic of delimitingmaterial objects, the function of showing theirboundaries, the manifestation of showing their limits,state of being untouched by the four great elements andof being their holes and openings as manifestation, theseparated objects as proximate cause. It is that of whichin the separated groups we say ‘this is above, this isbelow, this is across.”

Space delimits the groups of rupa that are produced by kamma,citta, temperature and nutrition so that they are separated from eachother. If there were no space in between the different groups ofrupa, these groups would all be connected, not distinct from eachother. Space comes into being as it surrounds the groups of rupasproduced by kamma, citta, temperature and nutrition and, thus, it isregarded as originating from each of these four factors.

We read in the ”Discourse on the Analysis of the Elements” (Mid-dle Length Sayings III, no 140) that the Buddha explained to themonk Pukkusati about the elements and that he also spoke aboutthe element of space. This Sutta refers to the empty space of holesand openings that are, as we have read, the manifestation of space.We read:

“ . . . And what, monk, is the element of space? Theelement of space may be internal, it may be external.And what, monk, is the internal element of space?Whatever is space, spacious, is internal, referable to anindividual and derived therefrom, such as the auditoryand nasal orifices, the door of the mouth and that bywhich one swallows what is munched, drunk, eaten and

4See also Dhammasangan. i, §638 and Visuddhimagga XIV, 63.


tasted, and where this remains, and where it passes out(of the body) lower down, or whatever other thing isspace, spacious, is internal, referable to an individualand derived therefrom, this, monk, is called the internalelement of space. Whatever is an internal element ofspace and whatever is an external element of space, justthese are the element of space. By means of perfectintuitive wisdom this should be seen as it really is thus:This is not mine, this am I not, this is not myself. Havingseen this thus as it really is by means of perfect intuitivewisdom, he disregards the element of space, he cleanseshis mind of the element of space.”

The Sutta speaks in conventional terms of space of the auditoryorifices and the other holes and openings of the body. Space in theear is one of the conditions for hearing 5. We attach great importanceto internal space and we take it for “mine” or self, but it is only arupa element.

Questions

1. When we notice suppleness of the limbs, is this experiencedthrough the bodysense?

2. Can suitable food, suitable weather and the citta which, forexample, cultivates lovingkindness be conditions for lightness,plasticity and wieldiness of body?

3. Can these three qualities also be produced by kamma?

4. What is the function of space?

5Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 314.

Chapter 8

Characteristics of Rupas

As we have seen, rupas can be classified as sabhava rupas, rupaswith their own distinct nature and asabhava rupas, rupas withouttheir own distinct nature. The four Great Elements are sabhavarupas, they each have their own distinct nature and characteris-tic. Rupas such as lightness, plasticity and wieldiness are asabhavarupas, they are qualities of rupas. The Dhammasangan. i (§596) in-corporates in the list of the twentyeight kinds of rupa not only rupaswith their own distinct nature but also qualities of rupa and charac-teristics of rupa.

It mentions four different rupas which are characteristics of rupa,lakkhan. a rupas (lakkhan. a means characteristic). These four charac-teristics common to all sabhava rupas are the following:

arising or origination (upacaya)1

continuity or development (santati)

decay or ageing (jarata)

falling away or impermanence (aniccata)

Rupas do not arise singly, they arise in different groups (kalapas).The groups of rupa arise fall away, but they do not fall away as

1Literally: initial accumulation.

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62 CHAPTER 8. CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL RUPAS

rapidly as citta. Rupa lasts as long as the duration of seventeen mo-ments of citta arising and falling away, succeeding one another. Afterthe arising of rupa there are moments of its presence: its continuityor development. Decay, jarata rupa, is the characteristic indicatingthe moment close to its falling away and impermanence, aniccatarupa, is the characteristic indicating the moment of its falling away.

We do not notice that the rupas of our body fall away and thattime and again new rupas are produced which fall away again. Solong as we are alive, kamma, citta, temperature and nutrition pro-duce rupas and thus our bodily functions can continue. These rupasarise, develop, decay and fall away within splitseconds.

The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Part I, Ch II, 327) and also the“Visuddhimagga” (Ch XIV, 66, 67) speak in a general, conventionalsense about the arising of rupas at the first moment of life, the initialarising, and they explain that after the initial arising at rebirth thereis ‘continuity’, that is to say, the subsequent arising of the groups ofrupa.

Thus, we have to remember that the characteristics are taught bydifferent methods: according to the very short duration of one rupathat arises and continues before it decays and falls away or in a moregeneral way, in conventional sense.

The characteristics of rupa are taught in a conventional sense inorder to help people to have more understanding of these charac-teristics of rupa which denote the arising, the continuity, the decayand the falling away. The teaching was adapted to the capabilities tounderstand of different people.

The “Atthasalinı” ((II, Book II, Part I, Ch II, 327) explains in awider sense, by way of conventional terms, the origination of rupaat the first moment of life and the continuity of rupa as the subse-quent arising of rupa. Throughout our life there is continuity in theproduction of rupa.

We read about continuity:

“Continuity has the characteristic of continuousoccurrence, the function of linking or binding without a

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break, unbroken series as manifestation, matter boundup without a break as proximate cause.”

This definition of continuity in a more general sense reminds usthat the seeming permanence of the body is merely due to the con-tinuous production of new rupas replacing the ones that have fallenaway.

We read in the “ Visuddhimagga” (Ch XIV, 68) about decay orageing:

“ Ageing has the characteristic of maturing (ripening)material instances. Its function is to lead on towards[their termination]. It is manifested as the loss ofnewness without the loss of individual essence, likeoldness in paddy. Its proximate cause is matter that ismaturing (ripening). This is said with reference to thekind of ageing that is evident through seeing alterationin teeth, etc., as their brokenness, and so on (cf. Dhs.644) . . . ”

The commentary to the Visuddhimagga explains as to the simileof the paddy, that paddy, when it is ageing, becomes harsh, but thatit does not lose its nature, that it is still paddy. It states: “The ageingis during the moments of its presence, then that dhamma does notabandon its specific nature.”

Thus, here the commentary does not speak in a general, conven-tional way, but it refers to decay as one of the four characteristics ofa single rupa, to the moment that is close to its falling away. Aftera rupa such as visible object has arisen, there are the moments of itspresence, it is decaying and then it falls away. It is the same visi-ble object that is present and decaying, it does not lose its specificnature.

The “Atthasalinı” explains terms used by the “Dhammasangan. i”in reference to decay, such as decrepitude, hoariness, wrinkles, theshrinkage in length of days, the overripeness of the faculties:

“ . . . By the word ‘decrepitude’ is shown the functionwhich is the reason for the broken state of teeth, nails,


etc., in process of time. By hoariness is shown thefunction which is the reason for the greyness of hair onthe head and body. By ‘wrinkles’ is shown the functionwhich is the reason for the wrinkled state in the skinmaking the flesh fade. Hence these three terms show thefunction of decay in process of time . . . ”

As to the terms “shrinkage in life and maturity of faculties”, theseshow the resultant nature of this decay. We read:

“ . . . Because the life of a being who has reached decayshortens, therefore decay is said to be the shrinkage inlife by a figure of speech. Moreover, the faculties, suchas sight, etc., capable of easily seizing their own object,however subtle, and which are clear in youth, aremature in one who has attained decay; they aredisturbed, not distinct, and not capable of seizing theirown object however gross . . . ”

When we notice decay of our teeth, wrinkles of the skin and grey-ing of our hairs, decay is obvious. However, we should rememberthat each rupa that arises is susceptible to decay, that it will fall awaycompletely.

As to impermanence, aniccata, the “Visuddhimagga” (Ch XIV,69) states about it as follows2 :

“Impermanence of matter has the characteristic ofcomplete breaking up. Its function is to make materialinstances subside. It is manifested as destruction and fall(cf. Dhs. 645). Its proximate cause is matter that iscompletely breaking up.”

The commentary to the “Visuddhimagga” speaks about the im-permanence as the falling away of each rupa:

“ It is said that its function is to make (materialinstances) subside, since this (impermanence) causes the

2See Dhammasangan. i §645 and Atthasalinı, II, Book II, Part I, Ch II, 328

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materiality that has reached (the moments of) presenceas it were to subside. And since this (impermanence),because of the state of dissolution of materialphenomena, should be regarded as destruction and fall,it is said that it is manifested as destruction and fall.”

As soon as rupa has arisen, it is led onward to its termination andit breaks up completely, never to come back again. Rememberingthis is still theoretical knowledge of the truth of impermanence, dif-ferent from right understanding that realizes the arising and fallingaway of a nama or a rupa. When understanding has not yet reachedthis stage one cannot imagine what it is like. One may tend to clingto ideas about the arising and falling away of phenomena but that isnot the development of understanding. Nama and rupa have eachdifferent characteristics and so long as one still confuses nama andrupa, their arising and falling away cannot be realized. Understand-ing is developed in different stages and one cannot forego any stage.First there should be a precise understanding of nama as nama andof rupa as rupa so that the difference between these two kinds ofrealities can be clearly seen. It is only at a later stage in the devel-opment of understanding that the arising and falling away of namaand rupa can be directly known.

The “Atthasalinı” (II, Book II, Part I, Ch II, 329) compares birth,decay and death to three enemies, of whom the first leads someoneinto the forest, the second throws him down and the third cuts offhis head. We read:

“ . . . For birth is like the enemy who draws him to enterthe forest; because he has come to birth in this or thatplace. Decay is like the enemy who strikes and fells himto earth when he has reached the forest, because theaggregates (khandhas) produced are weak, dependenton others, lying down on a couch. Death is like theenemy who with a sword cuts off the head of him whenhe is fallen to the ground, because the aggregates havingattained decay, have come to destruction of life.”


This simile reminds us of the disadvantages of all conditioned re-alities that do not last and are therefore no refuge. However, so longas understanding (pañña) has not realized the arising and fallingaway of nama and rupa, one does not grasp their danger.

We read in the “Dıghanakhasutta” (Middle Length Sayings II, no.74) that the Buddha reminded Dıghanakha that the body is suscep-tible to decay, impermanent and not self:

“But this body, Aggivessana, which has material shape,is made up of the four great elements, originating frommother and father, nourished on gruel and sour milk, ofa nature to be constantly rubbed away, pounded away,broken up and scattered, should be regarded asimpermanent, suffering, as a disease, a tumour, a dart, amisfortune, an affliction, as other, as decay, empty,not-self. When he regards this body as impermanent,suffering, as a disease, a tumour, a dart, a misfortune, anaffliction, as other, as decay, empty, not-self, whatever inregard to body is desire for body, affection for body,subordination to body, this is got rid of.”

Origination, continuity, decay and impermanence are character-istics common to all sabhava rupas. They do not have their own dis-tinct nature, thus, they are asabhava rupas. These characteristics arenot produced by the four factors of kamma, citta, food and tempera-ture. Rupas have been classified as twentyeight kinds. Summarizingthem, they are:

solidity (or extension)

cohesion

temperature

motion

eyesense

earsense

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nose (smellingsense)

tongue (tastingsense)

bodysense

visible object

sound

odour

flavour

femininity

masculinity

heart-base

life faculty

nutrition

space

bodily intimation

speech intimation

lightness

plasticity

wieldiness

origination

continuity

decay

impermanence


Rupas can be classified as the four Principle Rupas and the twen-tyfour derived rupas. The four Principle rupas, maha-bhuta rupas,are the four Great Elements. The derived rupas, upada rupas, arethe other twentyfour rupas that arise in dependence upon the fourGreat Elements.

Rupas can be classified as gross and subtle. As we have seen(in Chapter 4), twelve kinds of rupa are gross: visible object, sound,odour, flavour and three of the four Great Elements which are tangi-ble object (excluding cohesion), as well as the five sense-organs. Theyare gross because of impinging: visible object impinges on the eye-sense, sound impinges on the earsense, and each of the other senseobjects impinges on the appropriate sense-base. The other sixteenkinds of rupa are subtle. What is subtle is called “far” because it isdifficult to penetrate, whereas what is gross is called “near”, becauseit is easy to penetrate (Vis. XIV, 73).

Furthermore, other distinctions can be made. Rupas can be clas-sified as sabhava rupas, rupas with their own distinct nature, andasabhava rupas, rupas without their own distinct nature. The twelvegross rupas and six among the subtle rupas that are: cohesion, nu-trition, life faculty, heart-base, femininity and masculinity are ru-pas each with their own distinct nature and characteristic, they aresabhava rupas.

The other ten subtle rupas do not have their own distinct nature,they are asabhava rupas. Among these are the two kinds of intima-tion, bodily intimation and speech intimation, which are a “certain,unique change” in the eight inseparable rupas produced by citta.Moreover, the three qualities of lightness, plasticity and weildiness,classified together with the two rupas of intimation as vikara rupas(rupa as changeability or alteration) are included in the asabhavarupas. Furthurmore, the rupa space (akasa or pariccheda rupa) thatdelimits the groups of rupa, as well as the four rupas that are thecharacteristics of origination, continuity, decay and impermanence,are included.

Rupas can be classified as produced rupas, nipphanna rupas, andunproduced rupas, anipphanna rupas. The sabhava rupas are alsocalled “produced”, whereas the asabhava rupas are also called “un-

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produced”3. The two kinds of intimation produced by citta, thethree qualities of lightness, plasticity and wieldiness produced bycitta, temperature or nutrition and space which delimits the groupsof rupa produced by the four factors and therefore originating fromthese four factors, are still called “unproduced”, anipphanna, be-cause they themselves are not rupas with their own distinct nature,they are not “concrete matter”.

The “produced rupas” which each have their own characteristicare, as the “Visuddhimagga” (XVIII, 13) explains, “suitable for com-prehension”, that is, they are objects of which right understandingcan be developed. For example, visible object or hardness have char-acteristics that can be objects of awareness when they appear, andthey can be realized by pañña as they are, as non-self. The “un-produced rupas” are “not suitable for comprehension” since theyare qualities of rupa such as changeability or the rupa that delimitsgroups of rupas. If one does not know this distinction, one may beled to wrong practice.

Questions

1. Can the rupas of lightness, plasticity and wieldiness be objectsof awareness?

3For details see Visuddhimagga XIV, 73, 77.


Chapter 9

Groups of Rupas

Rupas do not arise singly, they always arise collectively, in groups(kalapas). Where there is solidity, the Element of Earth, there haveto be the other three Great Elements, and also colour, flavour, odourand nutrition. These are the eight inseparable rupas. A group ofrupas consisting of only the eight inseparable rupas is called a “pureoctad”. Pure octads of the body are produced by citta, temperatureor nutrition, and pure octads outside the body are produced only bytemperature.

The groups of rupas produced by kamma have to consist of atleast nine rupas: the eight inseparable rupas and life faculty (jıv-itindriya), and such a group is called a “nonad”. Eyesense, earsense,smelling-sense, tasting-sense, bodysense, heart-base, femininity andmasculinity are other kinds of rupa produced by kamma and eachof these rupas arises together with the eight inseparable rupas andlife faculty, thus, they arise in groups of ten rupas, decads. Allrupas of such a decad are produced by kamma. Thus, one speaks ofeye-decad, ear-decad, nose-decad, tongue-decad, body-decad, heart-base-decad, femininity-decad and masculinity-decad. As to the body-decad, this arises and falls away at any place of the body where therecan be sensitivity.

Kamma produces groups of rupas from the arising moment ofthe rebirth-consciousness (pat.isandhi-citta). In the case of human be-

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72 CHAPTER 9. GROUPS OF RUPAS

ings, kamma produces at that moment the three decads of bodysense,of sex (femininity or masculinity) and of heart-base, and it producesthese decads throughout our life. The eye-decad and the decads ofear, nose and tongue are not produced at the first moment of life butlater on.

The citta which is rebirth-consciousness does not produce rupa.The citta which immediately succeeds the rebirth-consciousness, na-mely the life-continuum (bhavanga-citta)1 , produces rupa. One mo-ment of citta can be divided into three extremely short phases: itsarising moment, the moment of its presence and the moment ofits falling away. Citta produces rupa at its arising moment, sincecitta is then strong. At the moment of its presence and the mo-ment of its dissolution it is weak and then it does not produce rupa(Visuddhimagga XX, 32). When the citta succeeding the rebirth-consciousness, the life-continuum, arises, it produces a pure octad.Later on citta produces, apart from pure octads, also groups withbodily intimation, with speech intimation and with the three rupasof lightness, plasticity and wieldiness, which always have to arisetogether. These three kinds of rupa also arise in a group togetherwith bodily intimation and speech intimation. In the case of speechintimation, also sound arises together with speech intimation in onegroup.

Throughout life citta produces rupa, but not all cittas can producerupa. As we have seen, the rebirth-consciousness does not producerupa. Among the cittas that do not produce rupa are also the sense-cognitions of seeing, hearing, etc. Seeing only sees, it has no othercapacity. Some cittas can produce rupas but not bodily intimationand speech intimation, and some cittas can produce the two kindsof intimation. Among the cittas that can produce the two kinds ofintimation are the kusala cittas of the sense-sphere (thus not thosethat attain absorption or jhana and those that realize enlightenment),and the akusala cittas2.

1The bhavanga-citta arises in between the processes of cittas; it does not experienceobjects that impinge on the six doors, but it experiences the same object as the rebirth-consciousness. It maintains the continuity in the life of the individual.

2See Visuddhimagga XX, 31, and Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 325.

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Temperature (heat-element) can produce groups of rupas of thebody as well as groups of rupas of materiality outside. In the caseof materiality outside it produces groups that are “pure octads” andalso groups with sound3. Rupas that are not of the body are solelyproduced by temperature, they are not produced by kamma, cittaor nutrition. When we see a rock or plant we may think that theylast, but they consist of rupas originated by temperature, arising andfalling away all the time. Rupas are being replaced time and again,and we do not realize that rupas which have fallen away never comeback.

As regards groups of rupas of the body, temperature producespure octads and also groups with lightness, plasticity and wieldi-ness.

As we have seen, kamma produces rupa in a living being fromthe moment the rebirth-consciousness arises. Kamma produces rupaat each of the three moments of citta: at its arising moment, at themoment of its presence and at the moment of its falling away. Ineach group of rupas produced by kamma there is the element of heat(utu), which is one of the four Great Elements, and this begins to pro-duce new rupas at the moment of presence of rebirth-consciousness,thus, not at the arising moment of rebirth-consciousness. The ele-ment of heat produces other rupas during the moments of its pres-ence, it cannot produce rupas at its arising moment4. It originatesa pure octad and from that moment on it produces, throughout life,rupas during the moments of its presence5.

3Sound can be produced by temperature or by citta.4Temperature and nutrition, rupas which produce other rupas, do not produce

these at the moment of their arising, since they are then weak, but they producerupas during the moments of presence, before they fall away. The duration of rupa,when compared with the duration of citta, is as long as seventeen moments of citta,thus there are fifteen moments of presence of rupa. Citta, however, produces rupas atits arising moment since it is then strong.

5The heat-element present in a group which is produced by temperature, no matterwhether of materiality outside or of the body, can, in its turn, produce a pure octadand in this way several occurrences of octads can be linked up. In the same way, theheat-element present in groups of rupas of the body, produced by kamma or cittacan, in its turn, produce a pure octad, and the heat-element present in that octad canproduce another octad, and so on. In this way several occurrences of octads are linked


Nutritive essence present in food that has been swallowed 6 , pro-duces rupas and it supports and sustains the body. Rupas producedby nutrition arise only in the body of living beings. Nutrition pro-duces pure octads and also groups of rupa with lightness, plasticityand wieldiness.

Nutritive essense is one of the inseparable rupas present in eachgroup of rupas. Nutritive essence in nutriment-originated octadsoriginates a further octad with nutritive essence and thus, it linksup the occurrences of several octads. The “Visuddhimagga” (XX, 37)states that nutriment taken on one day can thus sustain the body foras long as seven days7.

The groups of rupas produced by kamma, citta, temperature andnutrition are interrelated and support one another. If only kammawould produce rupas the body could not continue to exist. We readin the “Visuddhimagga” (XVII, 196):

“. . . But when they thus give consolidating support toeach other, they can stand up without falling, likesheaves of reeds propped up together on all four sides,even though battered by the wind, and like (boats with)broken floats that have found a support, even thoughbattered by waves somewhere in mid-ocean, and theycan last one year, two years . . . a hundred years, untilthose beings’ life span or their merit is exhausted.”

The “Atthasalinı” (I, Book I, Part III, Ch I, 84) 8, in the context ofbodily intimation, explains that groups of rupa produced by citta areinterlocked with groups of rupas produced by kamma, temperatureand nutrition. We read:

When the body set up by mind (citta) moves, does thebody set up by the other three causes move or not? The

up. Temperature produced by nutrition can also, in its turn, produce another octad.6See Ch 2. The substance of morsel-made food (kabal.inkaro aharo) contains nutri-

tive essence, oja. When food has been swallowed the nutritive essence pervades thebody and supports it.

7Also nutriment smeared on the body originates materiality, according to the “Vi-suddhimagga”. Some creams, for example, nourish the skin.


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latter moves likewise, goes with the former, andinvariably follows it. Just as dry sticks, grass, etc., fallenin the flowing water go with the water or stop with it, soshould the complete process be understood . . .

The study of the groups of rupas produced by the four factors ofkamma, citta, temperature and nutrition and also their interrelationshows us the complexity of the conditions for the bodily phenomenaand functions from birth to death9. It reminds us that there is no selfwho can control the body.

Not all types of rupa arise in the different planes of existencewhere living beings are born. Apart from the plane of human be-ings, there are also other planes of existence. Birth in an unhappyplane or a happy plane is the result of kamma. Birth in the humanplane of existence is the result of kusala kamma. During life thereare conditions for the occurring of results of kusala kamma and ofakusala kamma, namely, the experience of pleasant objects as wellas unpleasant objects through the senses. In the human plane thedecads of eye, ear, nose, tongue and bodysense that are producedby kamma arise, so that the different sense objects can be experi-enced. People who see the disadvantages of enslavement to senseimpressions and have accumulated the right conditions for the de-velopment of a high degree of calm, can attain stages of jhana. Theresult of the different stages of jhana is birth in higher planes of ex-istence where less sense impressions occur or none at all. In some ofthe higher planes10 the decads of nose, tongue, bodysense and sexare absent, but the decads of eye and ear, the decad of the heart-baseand the nonad of life faculty (life faculty and the eight inseparablerupas) arise. The rupas produced by nutrition do not arise. In theseplanes one does not need food to stay alive.

In one of the higher planes of existence there is no nama, only

9For details see: Atthasalinı II, Book II, Part I, Ch III, 342, 343, and VisuddhimaggaXX, 32-43.

10The rupa-brahma planes. Birth in these planes is the result of rupa-jhana, fine-material jhana.


rupa11. Here the decads of eye, ear and the other senses, sex andheart-base are absent. Sound does not arise and neither do rupasproduced by citta arise, since nama does not arise. Kamma producesthe nonad of life faculty at the first moment of life and after that alsotemperature produces rupas.

In some of the higher planes only nama ocurs and thus rupas donot arise in such planes12.

Questions

1. Can kamma produce groups of eight rupas, pure octads?

2. Which decads produced by kamma arise at the first moment oflife in the case of human beings?

3. Can rebirth-consciousness produce rupa?

4. Can seeing-consciousness produce rupa?

5. Can citta rooted in attachment produce rupa?

11The “perceptionless beings plane” (asañña-satta plane) which is one of the rupa-brahma planes. Those who are born here have seen the disadvantages of nama.

12The arupa-brahma planes. Birth in these planes is the result of arupa-jhana, “im-material jhana”.

Chapter 10

Conclusion

The study of the different kinds of rupa will help us to understandmore clearly the various conditions for the arising of bodily phenom-ena and mental phenomena. Gradually we shall come to understandthat all our experiences in life, all the objects we experience, our bod-ily movements and our speech are only conditioned nama and rupa.In the planes of existence where there are nama and rupa, nama con-ditions rupa and rupa conditions nama in different ways. The rupasthat are sense objects and the rupas that can function as sense-doorsare conditions for the different cittas arising in processes which ex-perience sense objects.

In order to develop understanding of nama and rupa it is nec-essary to learn to be mindful of the nama or rupa appearing at thepresent moment. Only one object at a time can be object of mindful-ness and in the beginning we may find this difficult. The study ofrupas can help us to have more clarity about the fact that only oneobject at a time can be experienced through one of the six doors.Visible object, for example, can be experienced through the eye-door, it cannot be experienced through the body-door, thus, throughtouch. Seeing-consciousness experiences what is visible and body-consciousness experiences tangible object, such as hardness or soft-ness. Through each door the appropriate object can be experiencedand the different doorways should not be confused with one another.

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78 CHAPTER 10. CONCLUSION

When we believe that we can see and touch a flower, we think of aconcept. We can learn to see the difference between awareness ofone reality at a time and thinking of a concept. A concept or conven-tional truth can be an object of thought, but it is not a paramatthadhamma, an ultimate reality with its own inalterable characteristic.

It may seem difficult to be mindful of one reality at a time, butrealities such as visible object, hardness or sound are impinging onthe senses time and again. When we have understood that they havedifferent characteristics and that they present themselves one at atime, we can learn to be mindful of them. We should rememberthat at the moment of mindfulness of a reality understanding of thatreality can be developed. Right understanding should be the goal.There is no self who understands. Understanding is a cetasika, atype of nama; it understands and it can develop.

Right understanding is developed in different stages of insightand it is useful to know more about the first stage. When the firststage of insight has been reached, pañña, understanding, distin-guishes the characteristic of nama from the characteristic of rupa.In theory we know that nama experiences something and that rupadoes not experience anything, but when they appear there is, at first,not yet direct understanding of their different characteristics. Wemay, for example, cling to an idea of “I am feeling hot”. What isthere in reality? There is nama that experiences heat and there isrupa that is heat, but we tend to think of a “whole”, a conglom-eration of different phenomena: of a person who feels hot. Thennama cannot be distinguished from rupa. It is true that when heatis experienced, also the rupa that is heat is present. However, onlyone reality at a time can be object of mindfulness. Sometimes namais the object of mindfulness and sometimes rupa, and this dependson conditions. When one reality at a time is object of mindfulness,one does not, at that moment, think of “self” or “my body”. Grad-ually understanding can develop and then clinging to self will de-crease. Rupas impinging on the five senses are experienced throughthe sense-doors as well as through the mind-door. Nama cannot beexperienced through a sense-door, but only through the mind-door.Each of the sense-objects that is experienced through the appropriate

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sense-door is also experienced through the mind-door. We may un-derstand that seeing sees visible object, but the experience of visibleobject through the mind-door is concealed. The processes of cittaspass very rapidly and when understanding has not been developedit is not clearly known what the mind-door process is. At the firststage of insight pañña arising in a mind-door process clearly realizesthe difference between the characteristic of nama and the characteris-tic of rupa, and at that stage it is also known what the mind-door is.When understanding develops it will eventually lead to that stage.

The study of nama and rupa can clear up misunderstandingsabout the development of understanding and about the object of un-derstanding. Reading about nama and rupa and pondering overthem are conditions for the development of right understanding ofthe realities presenting themselves through the six doors. We read inthe “Therıgatha” (Psalms of the Sisters) about people in the Buddha’stime who were disturbed by problems and could not find mentalstability. When they were taught Abhidhamma they could developright understanding and even attain enlightenment. While one stud-ies the elements, the sense-doors, the objects, in short, all ultimaterealities (paramattha dhammas), the truth that there is no being orself becomes more evident. We read in Canto 57 about Bhikkhunı1

Vijaya who could not find peace of mind. After she had been taughtAbhidhamma she developed right understanding of realities and at-tained arahatship 2 We read:

“Four times, nay five, I sallied from my cell,

And roamed afield to find the peace of mind

I lacked, and governance of thoughts

I could not bring into captivity.

Then to a Bhikkhunı I came and asked

Full many a question of my doubts.

To me she taught Dhamma: the elements,

1Bhikkhunı means nun or sister.2The fourth and last stage of enlightenment.

80 CHAPTER 10. CONCLUSION

Organ and object in the life of sense,

(And then the factors of the Nobler life:)

The Ariyan truths, the Faculties, the Powers,

The Seven Factors of Enlightenment 3,

The Eightfold Path, leading to utmost good.

I heard her words, her bidding I obeyed.

While passed the first watch of the night there rose

Long memories of the bygone line of lives.

While passed the second watch, the Heavenly Eye,

Purview celestial, I clarified 4.

While passed the last watch of the night, I burst

And rent aside the gloom of ignorance.

Then, letting joy and blissful ease of mind

Suffuse my body, seven days I sat,

Ere stretching out cramped limbs I rose again.

Was it not rent indeed, that muffling mist?”

3The ariyan Truths are the four noble Truths: the Truth of dukkha, that is, the im-permanence and unsatisfactoriness of all conditioned realities; the Truth of the originof dukkha, that is, craving; the Truth of the cessation of dukkha, that is, nibbana;the Truth of the way leading to the cessation of dukkha, that is, the development ofthe eightfold Path. The Faculties, Powers, Seven Factors of Enlightenment are whole-some qualities that develop together with satipat.t.hana so that enlightenment can beattained. Among them are mindfulness, energy, concentration and understanding.

4The Heavenly Eye is the knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings.

Glossary

abhidhamma the higher teachings of Buddhism, teachings on ulti-mate realities.

akasa space

akusala unwholesome, unskilful.

anagamı non returner, person who has reached the third stage ofenlightenment, he has no aversion (dosa).

anatta not self.

anicca impermanent

aniccata falling away or impermanence.

apo-dhatu element of water or cohesion.

arahat noble person who has attained the fourth and last stage ofenlightenment.

aramman. a object which is known by consciousness.

ariyan noble person who has attained enlightenment.

asabhava rupas rupas without their own distinct nature.

avinibbhoga rupas the four Great elements and four derived rupas,which always arise together.

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82 GLOSSARY

bhikkhu monk.

bhikkhunı nun.

Buddha a fully enlightened person who has discovered the truth allby himself, without the aid of a teacher.

cakkhu-dhatu eye element.

cakkhu-dvara eyedoor.

cakkhu-viññan. a seeing-consciousness.

cakkhu eye.

cakkhuppasada rupa rupa which is the organ of eyesense, capableof receiving visible object.

cetana volition or intention.

cetasika mental factor arising with consciousness.

citta consciousness, the reality which knows or cognizes an object.

dassana-kicca function of seeing.

dhamma-dhatu element of dhammas, realities, comprising cetasikas,subtle rupas, nibbana.

dhamma reality, truth, the teachings.

dhammaramman. a all objects other than the sense objects which canbe experienced through the five sense-doors, thus, objects whichcan be experienced only through the mind-door.

Dhatukatha Discourse on the Elements, the third book of the Ab-hidhamma.

dit.t.hi wrong view, distorted view of realities.

dukkha suffering, unsatisfactoriness of conditioned realities.

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dvara doorway through which an object is experienced, the fivesense-doors or the mind door.

dvi-pañca-viññan. a the five pairs of sense-cognitions, which are see-ing, hearing, smelling, tasting and body-consciousness. Ofeach pair one is kusala vipaka and one akusala vipaka.

ghana-dhatu nose element.

ghana-viññan. a smelling-consciousness.

ghanappasada rupa rupa which is the organ of smelling sense, ca-pable of receiving odour.

ghayana-kicca function of smelling.

hadayavatthu heart-base.

itthindriyam. femininity-faculty.

jarata decay or ageing.

jivha-dhatu tongue element.

jivhappasada rupa rupa which is the organ of tasting sense, capableof receiving flavour.

jivha-viññan. a tasting-consciousness.

jıvitindriya life faculty.

kama sensual enjoyment or the five sense objects.

kamma patha course of action performed through body, speech ormind which can be wholesome or unwholesome.

kamma intention or volition; deed motivated by volition.

kammaññata wieldiness.

kaya-dhatu the element of bodysense.

84 GLOSSARY

kaya-viññatti bodily intimation, such as gestures, facial expression,etc.

kaya-viññan. a body-consciousness.

kaya body. It can also stand for the mental body, the cetasikas.

kayappasada rupa bodysense, the rupa which is capable of receiv-ing tangible object. It is all over the body, inside or outside.

khandhas conditioned realities classified as five groups: physicalphenomena, feelings, perception or remembrance, activities orformations (cetasikas other than feeling or perception), con-sciousness.

kicca function.

kusala citta wholesome consciousness.

kusala kamma a good deed.

kusala wholesome, skilful

lahuta buoyancy or lightness.

Maha-bhuta rupas the four Great Elements

moha ignorance.

muduta plasticity.

nama mental phenomena.

nibbana unconditioned reality, the reality which does not arise andfall away. The destruction of lust, hatred and delusion. Thedeathless. The end of suffering.

ol.arika rupas gross rupas (sense objects and sense organs).

oja the rupa which is nutrition.

pat.havı-dhatu The element of earth.

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pat.isandhi-citta the first moment of life the rebirth-consciousness.

Pali the language of the Buddhist teachings.

pañña wisdom or understanding.

paññatti concepts, conventional terms.

paramattha dhamma truth in the absolute sense: including citta,cetasika, rupa and nibbana.

pariccheda rupa the rupa that is space, delimiting the groups ofrupa (pariccheda meaning limit or boundary).

pasada-rupas rupas which are capable of receiving sense-objects suchas visible object, sound, taste, etc.

Purisindriyam. masculinity-faculty.

rupa physical phenomena, realities which do not experience any-thing.

sabhava rupas rupas with their own distinct nature.

saddaramman. a sound.

sankhata or sankhara dhamma conditioned dhamma.

sañña-kkhandha remembrance classified as one of the five khand-has.

sañña memory, remembrance or perception.

santati continuity or development.

sankhara dhamma conditioned dhamma.

sati mindfulness or awareness: non-forgetfulness of what is whole-some, or non-forgetfulness of realities which appear.

86 GLOSSARY

satipat.t.hana applications of mindfulness. It can mean the cetasikasati which is aware of realities or the objects of mindfulnesswhich are classified as four applications of mindfulness: Body,Feeling, Citta, Dhamma. Or it can mean the Path the Buddhaand the aryan disciples have developed.

savana-kicca function of hearing.

sayana-kicca function of tasting.

sıla morality in action or speech, virtue.

sota-dhatu element of earsense.

sota-dvara-vıthi-cittas ear-door process cittas.

sota-dvaravajjana-citta ear-door-adverting-consciousness.

sotapanna person who has attained the first stage of enlightenment,and who has eradicated wrong view of realities.

sota-viññan. a hearing-consciousness.

sukhuma rupas subtle rupas

sutta part of the scriptures containing dialogues at different placeson different occasions.

suttanta a sutta text.

tejo-dhatu element of fire or heat.

Theravada Buddhism Doctrine of the Elders, the oldest tradition ofBuddhism.

Tipit.aka the teachings of the Buddha.

upacaya arising or origination.

upada-rupa derived rupas, the rupas other than the four Great Ele-ments.

vacı viññatti speech intimation.

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vatthu base, physical base of citta.

vayo-dhatu element of wind or motion.

viññan. a consciousness, citta.

vipakacitta citta which is the result of a wholesome deed (kusalakamma) or an unwholesome deed (akusala kamma). It canarise as rebirth-consciousness, or during life as the experienceof pleasant or unpleasant objects through the senses, such asseeing, hearing, etc.

vipassana wisdom which sees realities as they are.

Documents

The Buddhist Teaching on Physical Phenomena